Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.38
Liaison Jeremy King
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Denison University
PA-7: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.65 / 4.00 Jeremy King
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Office of the President
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and programs to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of any policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students:

Denison guarantees to meet 100% of the demonstrated financial need of every student we admit. There are no gaps in any of our financial aid packages, which makes Denison affordable for all students, regardless of their financial circumstances. We actively recruit low-income students through our recruitment efforts, including partnerships with community-based organizations across the country.

https://denison.edu/feature/35242


A brief description of any programs to equip the institution’s faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:
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A brief description of the institution’s programs to guide and prepare students and families from low-income backgrounds for higher education:
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A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:

Denison has numerous scholarships to help low-income students. These include POSSE program scholarships, Licking County Resident scholarships, Columbus City Schools scholarships and a new scholarship for low-income students in the Cleveland area - https://denison.edu/news-events/featured/129679.


A brief description of the institution’s targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:

Denison’s financial aid staff is actively involved in the following outreach activities that are designed to help encourage students from low-income background to consider pursuing college after completing high school by educating them about the resources available to them to make college affordable:

Financial Aid Night Presentations—
The Director of Financial Aid does several presentations annually in central Ohio high schools that have large enrollments of low-income students. These presentations focus on the process of applying for aid and provide questions for the students and parents to ask at the respective colleges to which they will apply. Students and parents are encouraged to apply to colleges with a variety of costs because a higher cost school can be more affordable because it often awards more financial aid.

Call to College in Newark, Ohio-
This organization focuses its efforts on assuring that qualified students in Newark High School from low-income backgrounds have the opportunity to pursue higher education. The Financial Aid staff works closely with this organization to provide presentations when needed and to work with the Call to College counselors to encourage students to apply to Denison.

College Goal Sunday-
All of the Financial Aid staff volunteer to participate in this nationally organized annual event that takes place on a Sunday in February. This event is designed to provide opportunities for families and students to actually complete the FAFSA with the assistance of financial aid professionals that volunteer to the event. The college counselors at the sites hosting this event are appreciative of our willingness to help and they will encourage their students to include Denison in their list of schools to which they apply.


A brief description of the institution’s other policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:

Through the generous contributions of alumni, Denison is able to offer financial support for students, including grants, for a variety of both on- and off-campus experiences and needs.

Career & Grad School
Academic
Off-Campus Study for Credit
Off-Campus Non-Credit Experiences
The Horizon Fund

The Horizon Fund was established in 2009 by 161 members of the Denison Class of 1959 as they celebrated their 50th anniversary reunion. The Fund is a permanent endowment to help support important opportunities for students. It is not the intent of the Horizon fund to provide grants that cover expenses associated with Denison coursework or senior projects but rather to support enrichment opportunities for the academic and/or co-curricular interests of students.

Independent initiatives and creative projects are of particular interest to the governing Board. Applications for funding associated with academic and/or professional development conference registration and travel, service learning experiences, and field study will also be considered.

Denison also offers a new Red Thread Grant to help low-income students seek internships and career opportunities. https://denison.edu/campus/student-development/feature/95470


Does the institution have policies and programs to support non-traditional students?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s scholarships provided specifically for part-time students:

Denison has very few non-traditional students on campus. However, we do have a Licking County Scholars program that allows area high school students to take courses for credit at Denison for approximately $300/course.

The Community Scholars program allows any Licking County resident age 30 and over to audit a course for $150.

In addition, Denison participates in the Yellow Ribbon program to help U.S. Veterans attend college.


A brief description of the institution’s on-site child care facility, partnership with a local facility, and/or subsidies or financial support to help meet the child care needs of students:
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A brief description of the institution’s other policies and programs to support non-traditional students:

Denison considers itself to be a residential liberal arts college, however it works with part-time students and veterans on issues of housing and commuting to campus. In the past, Denison has successfully found ways to provide viable housing options for non-traditional students.


Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (tracking accessibility and affordability)? (If data is not available, select 'No'):
Yes

The percentage of entering students that are low-income (0-100):
20

The graduation/success rate for low-income students (0-100):
83

On average, the percentage of need that was met for students who were awarded any need-based aid (e.g. as reported to the U.S. Common Data Set initiative, item H2) (0-100):
100

The percentage of students graduating with no interest-bearing student loan debt or for whom no out-of-pocket tuition is required (i.e. the percentage of graduates who have not taken out interest-bearing loans) (0-100):
62

Estimated percentage of students that participate in or directly benefit from the institution’s policies and programs to support low-income and non-traditional students (0-100):
30

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Denison maintains an internal password protected website where most of this information resides. Public access web pages have limited information on this topic.


Denison maintains an internal password protected website where most of this information resides. Public access web pages have limited information on this topic.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.