NGU Out Front On Affordability
Posted on: March 11, 2021
Tigerville, SC (February 17, 2020) With collective U.S. student loan debt nearing $1.5 trillion, one might ask what are colleges doing to offset student borrowing? North Greenville University (NGU) remains committed to keeping student debt to a minimum, offering two solutions in making it an affordable higher education option.
NGU, named a U.S. News & World Report Best Value School for 2020, announces that it will increase academic scholarship levels for new resident, commuter, and transfer students. This change becomes effective for Fall 2020, applying to the entering Class of 2024 and new transfer students.
“Everyone wants access to a valuable education, but it can come at a high cost. We take young people’s access to our highly reputable degrees and transformational Christ-centered community seriously, which is why we just made it easier financially to join our university,” says Vice President for Enrollment Services and Marketing & Communications Michael J. White.
White says that even though award amounts will increase, the criteria to qualify for these scholarships remain the same. Current students will continue under the existing award policy.
Award amounts for the NGU Fellows Scholarship for South Carolina residents and Trustee Scholarship recipients for new first-time students will remain the same for the 2020-2021 school year. New students qualifying for the Founder’s Scholarship will receive $10,000 per year, President’s Scholarship to receive $8,000 per year, and Dean’s Scholarship recipients will receive $6,000 per year. These scholarship amounts reflect an increase of $2,000 per year.
New qualifying commuter students will receive $7,000 for Founder’s, $6,000 for President’s, and $4,000 for Dean’s. New transfer resident and commuter scholarships will issue on a merit-based tiered system with award amounts ranging from $4,000 to $10,000.
“We believe there is incredible value in the education that students will receive from North Greenville University. And so, we are thrilled to announce the increase in our academic scholarship offerings for new incoming students, which recognizes their high academic achievement,” said Vice President for Student Services Rachael Russiaky.
Students will continue to have many options for how to meet their contribution, such as a campus work-study position during the academic year or savings from a summer job, private scholarships, state and federal aid programs, or gifts. As under the current policy, outside scholarships may also be used to replace the student contribution.
A second solution, NGU signed a partnership agreement with Tree of Life Bookstores (ToL) as another cost savings for students for Fall 2020.
The College Board states that the average college student spent $1,240 – $1,440 for the purchase or rental of new and used textbooks in the 2018-19 academic year. The expense projects to continue to increase in the years to follow.
Tree of Life will offer its innovative “textbook butler” service to NGU students. This service allows students to have all their course materials delivered to their campus residence or desired address before classes begin, all conveniently billed as one low fee of $425 per semester to their student account.
“One of the challenges of attending college is the cost beyond tuition, and in our digital age, textbook purchases have often become a barrier for many students. Our new partnership will increase affordability for our students and improve customer service simultaneously in ways that will encourage students to continue in their studies until graduation,” said NGU President Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr. “We are excited to add this new partner to our work of equipping transformational leaders for church and society.”
A recent article by the personal finance website NerdWallet, conveys that prospective students should choose a college that enables them to keep student loan payments manageable.
The article conveys that “as a rule of thumb, students should limit college borrowing such that future monthly payments don’t consume more than ten percent of your projected income. Then, look for relevant programs that are relatively low-cost or award enough scholarship money to offset your out-of-pocket expenses.
NerdWallet says this approach isn’t as fun as believing your dream school is priceless. But students will thank themselves when paying the monthly student loan bills in the future.
For more information on scholarship criteria and award levels visit, www.ngu.edu/admissions/financial-aid/, and for more information about NGU’s affordable award-winning degree programs, visit www.ngu.edu/academics/, or contact the Office of Admissions at 864.977.7001.
