More students are taking advantage of Oregon State University’s “Bridge to Success� program than its creators expected. Announced last spring to begin with this fall’s term, the program was expected to cover fees and tuition for about 10 percent of its Oregon students, or about 1,500 people.

OSU officials, however, have approved awards for some 2,400 students, about half of whom have income levels that qualify them for assistance with books and supplies.

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“The Campaign for OSU is doing well, and it has helped us with increased gift aid we can use,� said Kate Peterson, assistant provost for enrollment management and one of the creators of the Bridge to Success program.

This is outstanding news! We at the Office of Admissions are thrilled to see more Oregonians with the greatest need getting help. Big credit goes to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships for creating and managing the Bridge to Success and to the fundraisers with the Campaign for OSU for bringing in more and more resources!!

-jm

Does it make sense for incoming freshmen to take out more than $5,000 in Parent Direct Loan with high interest to come to college without the support of Perkin Loan and Institutional Based Aid?

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I don’t have much in the way of facts, except what I’ve observed with individual awards.
I’m comparing awards for freshmen during 2007-08 with incoming freshmen for 2008-09…

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So what’s missing? The combined total in Supplemental Tuition Grants and Supplemental
Educational Opportunity Grants of $2100. Where did these grants go? That’s the
pertinent question to ask.

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Here’s one possibility I’ve been speculating on: a student is eligible for a $400 Pell
Grant and no Oregon Opporunity Grant, which means they need an additional $5723 in OSU
based grants to cover tuition and fees. Is that where it all went? It’s possible.
Which essentially means they’ve sacrificed the very high need students, students whose
family income is under $25,000, to the students whose eligibility for Pell is borderline.

Because of the length of the comment, I had to parse it into highlights. You can read the rest of his comment and analysis below the original post.

In order to be as precise as possible I asked Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, Emilio Vejil, to write the response:

The financial aid application process is a yearly application process and there are many factors that impact a student’s award from year to year. The funding for the various aid programs varies from year to year, the application pool and need levels change, the priority application date may be missed by students, family financial circumstamces change and the awards are never guaranteed from year to year.

The Bridge to Success program allows Oregon residents who are both Pell and Oregon Opportunity Grant eligible to have their basic tuition and fees paid for if these two two programs do not cover this cost. In addition, students who continue to meet the academic and need provisions of the program will continue to receive this tuition funding from year to year.

This program was created to allow more high need students to be assisted with grant assistance to meet their tuition cost since our grant funding is limited. The same amount of campus based funds are being distributed to needy students with an increase in institutional funds allowing more grant funds to assist a larger student population over their undergraduate course of study.

Thanks for your comment, Chamroeun. I hope this clears up some of the confusion for you.

-jm

View the video on Youtube right here:

That’s all for now. If you would like to discuss or ask questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

-jm

From the Gazette Times:

Oregon State University is leveraging state and federal financial aid packages in a new program that will allow 10 percent of its in-state students — about 1,500 people — to attend the university without paying tuition or fees.

“We’re pretty excited. Tuition costs and the costs associated with a college education are pretty daunting for many of our students,� said OSU President Ed Ray.

“Some pretty extraordinary people come from pretty ordinary circumstances, and they need help to get their education. But then they accomplish extraordinary things.�

The program, called “Bridge to Success,� starts this fall, and students already at OSU would be eligible.

The university is identifying students with the greatest need who would qualify for the additional grant money. The aid would not have to be repaid.

Award amounts will vary, but could be as much as $4,800 annually on top of federal and state financial aid, said Emilio Vejil, OSU director of financial aid.

I think that the most remarkable feature of this program is that students don’t need to complete additional applications beyond the application for admission and the FAFSA. This is an important concept because one of the huge challenges that students with high need face is a lack of good information. This process will remove that wall for our neediest students.

If you have any questions about the Bridge to Success Program, you should contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

This is a truly great day for OSU and the State of Oregon! Full press release here.

-jm