Northwest augments needs-based student aid

In the News

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Northwest Missouri State University has announced changes to one of its largest financial assistance programs in hopes of making college more affordable while helping undergraduates reduce their debt load.

According to a Northwest release, the university worked with Enrollment Research Associates last fall in an effort to evaluate its financial assistance and scholarship programs.

As a result of that study, Northwest, on a pilot basis, plans to alter its merit award (scholarship) requirements in 2016-17 by raising the grade-point average floor for assistance-eligible incoming freshmen.

Savings from the change will be used to bolster needs-based financial aid for continuing students.

This means that Missouri-resident students who qualify for Northwest’s needs-based American Dream Grant will be given extended eligibility, allowing them to receive American Dream funds through their junior year.

The change will provide an estimated $120,000 to fill financial gaps for 130 Northwest students, according to Beverly Schenkel, Northwest’s dean of enrollment management.

Established in 2004, the American Dream program was intended to assist undergraduates who might otherwise find a college education beyond their financial reach.

“We are keeping that commitment to students with financial need,” Schenkel said. “We are a state institution committed to providing access to a higher education for all students.”

Northwest provides financial assistance to 90 percent of its first-time, full-time freshmen.

In addition, textbooks and a laptop computer are included with tuition, which, according to the university, saves students an estimated $7,200 over four years.

Currently Northwest claims a 59 percent graduation rate, which is in the 85th percentile of the school’s national peer group. The university also says that 98 percent of its graduating seniors either find jobs or enter graduate school within six months of receiving their diplomas.