More Financial Relief To Come With ACU's Affordability Campaign
By: Marlisa Goldsmith
Updated: February 20, 2012
"It is ACU, it's a private school and everyone's like, well everyone is well off here," says junior, Taylor Green.
However, that is not the case. College tuition is becoming more and more expensive each year.
Green transferred last year and said being able to afford school has not been easy at all.
She explains, "With my situation my parents don't really help so I have to work a lot and I'm taking 18 hours on top of that, and so it's really hard to balance everything."
Which is where ACU's $50 million affordability campaign comes into play.
Traditionally universities distributed several scholarships on merit aid, for when you have a certain talent such as musical, or athletic, but this campaign will help students who may not fit in these categories.
"What we're really trying to do is create an opportunity for students who have need, financial need, and try to help bridge that gap," says Kevin Campbell, chief enrollment officer of Abilene Christian University.
So far ACU has received $15.5 million dollars toward the $50 million campaign.
"We know that with some of the plans it's up to 15-20% of the students will receive additional money," Campbell explains.
The university says they can do more than that but basically what it all boils down to is they want to award fewer students with a large sum of money, rather than a large amount of students getting a small amount.
Campbell says, "We're trying to provide some significant dollars not just a little bit of dollars," something several students are excited to hear.
"More money is always great. It's never bad to get more money here," says Shelby Eaton, a junior at ACU.
However, that is not the case. College tuition is becoming more and more expensive each year.
Green transferred last year and said being able to afford school has not been easy at all.
She explains, "With my situation my parents don't really help so I have to work a lot and I'm taking 18 hours on top of that, and so it's really hard to balance everything."
Which is where ACU's $50 million affordability campaign comes into play.
Traditionally universities distributed several scholarships on merit aid, for when you have a certain talent such as musical, or athletic, but this campaign will help students who may not fit in these categories.
"What we're really trying to do is create an opportunity for students who have need, financial need, and try to help bridge that gap," says Kevin Campbell, chief enrollment officer of Abilene Christian University.
So far ACU has received $15.5 million dollars toward the $50 million campaign.
"We know that with some of the plans it's up to 15-20% of the students will receive additional money," Campbell explains.
The university says they can do more than that but basically what it all boils down to is they want to award fewer students with a large sum of money, rather than a large amount of students getting a small amount.
Campbell says, "We're trying to provide some significant dollars not just a little bit of dollars," something several students are excited to hear.
"More money is always great. It's never bad to get more money here," says Shelby Eaton, a junior at ACU.
