Spring Break
University Tuition Plan Provides Needed Aid
Our Opinion
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: Commentary
There is a lesser-known fallout from the escalating credit crisis faced in the United States. Unlike the record foreclosure rates and the massive debt write downs occurring nationwide, this crisis effects college students and high school seniors everywhere and hasn't made a splash on cable news. It also effects universities like UConn. In the face of the faltering credit situation, parents and students are having a tough time securing school loans.
It is not all bad news, however. Despite the fact that banks are clamping down, requesting higher and higher credit scores to even consider a loan application, the university administration and Board of Trustees are offering a sensible plan to help offset the burdensome cost of a college education.
The plan is three-fold. UConn will now offer an interest free tuition installment plan, spreading the cost of tuition and fees over 12 months, as opposed to two lump sum payments, as is now the case. Four hundred more students, who may not have received merit scholarships if it were not for the economic downturn, will now be receiving packages. Lastly, UConn is increasing its admission offers to prospective freshmen by 14 percent, with the thought that fewer applicants will actually be able to find the cash to attend in the fall.
Previously, students and parents wishing to pay in installments would have had to secure an outside vendor, which would have inevitably involved higher charges, thus raising the cost of a UConn education. Now, after a $35 application fee, UConn is offering to underwrite these mini-one year loans at zero percent - a phenomenal rate. There are many families unable to secure loans who can afford the cost of UConn over 12 months as opposed to the cost of UConn twice per year. This plan does nothing but increase access to the university for more qualified individuals and is a smart idea, even in the best economic times. UConn should look to keep this program even when the economy improves.
The second facet of the plan, although less sustainable, is even more admirable. There is little doubt that the 400 students who will be receiving merit scholarships under this new package were qualified before. Now UConn will become a more attractive option for these bright students who may have had other educational institutions in the front of their minds.
UConn must be careful, however, that the overextension of applications does not come back to haunt it. Dorms and classrooms are taxed enough and application acceptance rates are set for a reason. UConn only has room for so many and only the resources to do so much.
It is refreshing to see UConn, a public university, to be striving earnestly to be accessible to as many students as is feasible. The board of trustees and university administration have succeeded in that goal with these programs.
It is not all bad news, however. Despite the fact that banks are clamping down, requesting higher and higher credit scores to even consider a loan application, the university administration and Board of Trustees are offering a sensible plan to help offset the burdensome cost of a college education.
The plan is three-fold. UConn will now offer an interest free tuition installment plan, spreading the cost of tuition and fees over 12 months, as opposed to two lump sum payments, as is now the case. Four hundred more students, who may not have received merit scholarships if it were not for the economic downturn, will now be receiving packages. Lastly, UConn is increasing its admission offers to prospective freshmen by 14 percent, with the thought that fewer applicants will actually be able to find the cash to attend in the fall.
Previously, students and parents wishing to pay in installments would have had to secure an outside vendor, which would have inevitably involved higher charges, thus raising the cost of a UConn education. Now, after a $35 application fee, UConn is offering to underwrite these mini-one year loans at zero percent - a phenomenal rate. There are many families unable to secure loans who can afford the cost of UConn over 12 months as opposed to the cost of UConn twice per year. This plan does nothing but increase access to the university for more qualified individuals and is a smart idea, even in the best economic times. UConn should look to keep this program even when the economy improves.
The second facet of the plan, although less sustainable, is even more admirable. There is little doubt that the 400 students who will be receiving merit scholarships under this new package were qualified before. Now UConn will become a more attractive option for these bright students who may have had other educational institutions in the front of their minds.
UConn must be careful, however, that the overextension of applications does not come back to haunt it. Dorms and classrooms are taxed enough and application acceptance rates are set for a reason. UConn only has room for so many and only the resources to do so much.
It is refreshing to see UConn, a public university, to be striving earnestly to be accessible to as many students as is feasible. The board of trustees and university administration have succeeded in that goal with these programs.
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