In light of the bleak economic environment and outlook, Ohio State University announced a comprehensive plan today to assist their students.
Here is a list of the programs in their Student First commitment:
•Guarantee that financial aid will increase proportionally if tuition increases for the 2009-10 academic year.
•Assurance that student financial aid will be protected through any budget difficulties.
•Reaffirmation of the university's pledge of no mid-year tuition increases.
•More
than doubling the university's existing $850,000 short-term emergency
loan fund with an additional $1 million through a transfer from the
university's rainy day fund (The short-term loans offered by the university are for students who are
experiencing a temporary cash flow problem. Those loans are capped at
$500 and must be repaid in 90 days.)
•Assistance, at any time during the
year, in securing additional financial aid (loans, grants,
scholarships) for students whose economic condition changes due to job
loss by either the student or their parent(s).
•Personal contact
with all first-year students who did not re-enroll for winter quarter
to make sure that financial hardships are not an obstacle in continuing
their education.
•Fundraising emphasis on donations for student financial aid, both loans and scholarships.
The press release also reminded students/parents that "low-interest tuition loans are available through the university, which is the nation's largest participant in the U.S. Department of Education Direct Lending Program."
SLA will continue to monitor activities as to how colleges and universities are meeting the challenges of the economic crisis:
- SLA conducted a flash survey on "The Economic Crisis and Financial Aid" in November of 2008. Here are the results.
- Here are some recent blog posts on how schools are addressing this crisis.
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