Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.07
Liaison Katie Koscielak
Submission Date May 7, 2020

STARS v2.2

Cal Poly Humboldt
PA-8: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.50 / 4.00 Dan Saveliff
Director
EOP/Student Support Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Percentage of need met, on average, for students who were awarded any need-based aid :
67

Percentage of students graduating without student loan debt:
24

Percentage of entering students that are low-income:
54

Graduation/success rate for low-income students:
43

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

As part of the California State University system, low-income students are eligible for an application fee waiver, the State University Grant (SUG) and Cal Grant programs. The SUG and Cal Grant programs offer state-based financial aid which are targeted specifically to low-income students for the purpose of offsetting the cost of tuition. Additionally, students enrolled in the EOP and Student Support Services programs are eligible to receive an EOP Grant and Student Support Services grant.

The Educational Opportunity Program works with low-income and first-generation students beginning at the point of their admission to HSU, prior to their enrollment at the institution. Outreach activities help prepare them for their transition from High School to College. Financial aid advising, assistance with securing on-campus housing, and assistance in navigating institutional requirements such as orientation, course registration, vaccinations, final transcripts, and transportation. The EOP Summer Bridge program also provides an extended orientation helping to increase financial literacy, knowledge of institution and graduation requirements, familiarity with academic and cultural support services and programs, and social networking and integration with peers who share similar socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

Each year, the housing office engages in numerous collaborations with EOP for the benefit of low-income students. For newly entering students, housing sets aside rooms for EOP and other low-income students who are unable to commit early to the institution because they are waiting for their financial aid award offer. This room set aside allows low-income students to secure housing later in the financial aid award cycle after most rooms have already been allotted. For continuing EOP students, housing offers priority consideration for the limited on-campus rooms that are available for continuing students, essentially guaranteeing on-campus room assignments for EOP students. In addition, financial aid recipients are charged a reduce rate for their housing deposit and can align their housing payment plans with the disbursement of their financial aid duing the year. EOP participants who are also Cal Fresh recipients (State SNAP Program) are waived from the work requirement based on the educational planning and guidance they receive as EOP participants.

Furthermore, the university has multiple TRIO programs that are dedicated specifically to low-income students, which include both Pre-College Access Programs (TRIO Upward Bound, Talent Search, Gear-Up) and direct support for enrolled, eligible students through the TRIO Student Support Services program.

TRiO Upward Bound is a federally funded college preparatory program ($250,000 annual grant award), designed to generate the skills and motivation necessary for postsecondary educational success among limited income high school students whose parents do not hold a four year college degree.

Talent Search TRiO is a pre-college program that provides services to help improve the academic strengths and college readiness of 1,000 students in the 6th through 12th grades within the local service area. The free services our Academic Advisors provide to eligible students include assessment, monitoring, and coaching students on their path to college eligibility and admissions. Services are delivered through individual appointments, workshops, campus tours, and information for parents. All services are brought to the students' school site.

In 2014, Humboldt State University received a 7-year, $3 million federal grant to support its Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP), which helps at-risk students in Humboldt and Del Norte counties prepare for and succeed in college. Through the program, the university works with local partners to provide low-income, disadvantaged students and their families a variety of support services including mentoring, counseling, tutoring, college-preparatory courses, information about college, and financial aid options.

The SSS program at HSU is funded to serve 500 low-income and first-generation students, and the program provides academic, financial aid, advising, mentoring, and career support services to program students. Students receive on-going support and advise specific to their academic readiness, course selection, tutoring, mentoring, and monitoring of their progress to degree. As they approach graduation, they also receive coaching and advice on post-graduation readiness for career and graduate school.

A unique program sponsored by the university is our Preview Plus Bus program. Low-Income students from distant areas (Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Central Valley) who have been offered admissions to HSU have the opportunity to attend our new-student preview program free of charge. Because of Humboldt's remote location, this pre-admissions program is often not an affordable option for low income students. Transportation, room and board are provided to 150 prospective students each year.

As an institutional affordability initiative for new and continuing students, beginning Fall 2020: all new and continuing students who choose to live in the university residence halls receive a $1,000 scholarship, which is applied against their housing charges. Additionally, the $200 housing application fee is waived for former foster youth and low-income students where the application fee represents an economic hardship. Other incidental fees have been eliminated, where the fee represented a potential barrier to low-income students and their families, which includes the elimination of the Open House Fee, the Preview Day Fee, the Parent Orientation Fee, and the Enrollment Deposit.

The Oh SNAP! Program provides free food and services which link students who experience food insecurity with campus and local resources. These include assistance to low-income students for applying for CalFresh benefits, free food pantry, the HSU Farm Stand, J-Point Redistribution Program, and the Pop Up Thrift Shop. http://hsuohsnap.org/


A brief description of notable policies or programs to support non-traditional students:

The EOP program provides priority consideration to upper division transfer student applicants who are from non-traditional backgrounds, in recognition of the additional support and guidance these students typically need. These students are offered the full range of EOP/SSS advising support, which includes a Transfer Student Seminar for newly enrolled transfer students.

Veterans Enrollment and Transition Services. HSU has an office of Veterans Enrollment and Transition Services, which primarily serves re-entry age students. HSU VETS provides a primary point of contact on campus, programming and is working toward providing additional space to support and build community. VETS is staffed with veterans and family members who share experiences and career goals. Currently, they serve approximately 500 military affiliated students.
https://veterans.humboldt.edu/

The HSU Children's Center provides affordable high quality child care and early education programs in support of HSU students, staff & faculty families. For student families, child enrollment is based upon family income. Sliding fee scale is based on family size and gross monthly income. Fee subsidy is provided by a Department of Education grants and Federal grants. Student families not eligible for grant funding pay a reduced fee for services. https://childrencenter.humboldt.edu/

The University also offers the ELITE Scholars program which is dedicated to support former foster youth and other youth who are independent from their parents due to special circumstances.

Extended Education provides educational access to non-matriculated, non-traditional members of the community.
https://extended.humboldt.edu/extended-education/programs-and-courses


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:
60

Website URL where information about the institution’s accessibility and affordability initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Numeric percentages in the first four fields of this credit were provided by Gay Hilton in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

The last numeric figure for "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" was compiled by summing the percent of students that are Pell eligible (50%) with the percent of student estimated to to work with the EOP and Student Support Services program (10%).

(Institutional Effectiveness data shows that Pell grant recipients are 50% of the total student body, Fall 2019. https://ie.humboldt.edu/node/472. The EOP & Student Support Services program provides intrusive service to approximately 600 low-income students per year, representing nearly 10% of the total student population.)

Dan Saveliff, Director of EOP and SSS, provided the qualitate program descriptions for this credit.

Additional supporting websites are:
https://eop.humboldt.edu/
https://sss.humboldt.edu/
https://trioupwardbound.humboldt.edu/
https://talentsearch.humboldt.edu/
https://gearup.humboldt.edu/
http://hsuohsnap.org/
https://veterans.humboldt.edu/
https://childrencenter.humboldt.edu/
https://housing.humboldt.edu/1000-housing-scholarship


Numeric percentages in the first four fields of this credit were provided by Gay Hilton in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

The last numeric figure for "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" was compiled by summing the percent of students that are Pell eligible (50%) with the percent of student estimated to to work with the EOP and Student Support Services program (10%).

(Institutional Effectiveness data shows that Pell grant recipients are 50% of the total student body, Fall 2019. https://ie.humboldt.edu/node/472. The EOP & Student Support Services program provides intrusive service to approximately 600 low-income students per year, representing nearly 10% of the total student population.)

Dan Saveliff, Director of EOP and SSS, provided the qualitate program descriptions for this credit.

Additional supporting websites are:
https://eop.humboldt.edu/
https://sss.humboldt.edu/
https://trioupwardbound.humboldt.edu/
https://talentsearch.humboldt.edu/
https://gearup.humboldt.edu/
http://hsuohsnap.org/
https://veterans.humboldt.edu/
https://childrencenter.humboldt.edu/
https://housing.humboldt.edu/1000-housing-scholarship

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.