Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 26.70
Liaison Raymond Bowdish
Submission Date Feb. 4, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

State University of New York at Potsdam
PA-7: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.04 / 4.00 Heather Sullivan-Catlin
Professor, Environmental Studies
Environmental Studies
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

Support for Low-Income Students

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

None
A brief description of any policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students:
-SUNY Potsdam offers financial aid to 78% of our students, many of whom are from low-income families. -Our financial aid office awards SEOG (Non-Repayable Grants) to low-income students if they qualify and as long as SEOG funds are still available. -Federal Work Study Funds are also made available to low-income students who are able and willing to work in a campus job.

None
A brief description of any programs to equip the institution’s faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:
Our Center for Creative Instruction (CCI)offers regular workshops and we recently had one on teaching first-generation students, which overlaps a good deal with being low-income. See: https://www.potsdam.edu/faculty/center-creative-instruction/presentation-videos

A brief description of the institution’s programs to guide and prepare students and families from low-income backgrounds for higher education:
We participate in the Federal TRIO Program, a federal outreach and student services programs in the United States designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. https://www.potsdam.edu/academics/resources/student-success-center/trio

None
A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:
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A brief description of the institution’s targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:
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A brief description of the institution’s other policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:
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Support for Non-Traditional Students 

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:
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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:
SUNY Potsdam Childcare Center https://www.potsdam.edu/community/suny-potsdam-childcare-center The SUNY Potsdam Child Care Center, Inc. is a fully licensed, center-based child care facility serving children of SUNY Potsdam faculty, staff and students as well as the community at large. The center prioritizes students needing child care and offer a sliding -scale fee structure.

A brief description of the institution’s other policies and programs to support non-traditional students:
We offer a variety of services to support non-traditional students including: - a dedicated non-trad student lounge, - some classes offered in a variety of ways to accommodate non-trads (incl classes at satellite campuses, some weekend scheduled classes, and some online classes and programs), - a non-trad student club: https://www.potsdam.edu/non-traditional-student-organization -Numerous scholarships to support single parent students and student with families who are attending college full-time and working (https://www.potsdam.edu/admissions/financial-aid/types-aid/scholarships)

Part 2 

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):
49

The graduation/success rate for low-income students (0-100):
52.40

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):
82

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):
21

Optional Fields 

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):
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Susan Godreau, Financial Aid Ron Brown, Enrollment Mgmt Judy Singh, Office of Institutional Effectiveness

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.