Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 40.28
Liaison Amy McElhinney
Submission Date April 27, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

University of Mount Union
PAE-10: Affordability and Access Programs

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Michelle Sundstrom
Vice President for Enrollment Services
Enrollment Services
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Does the institution have policies and programs in place to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s participation in federal TRIO programs:

Our Admissions Department offers a number of Upward Bound programs; however, we are not a TRIO partner.


A brief description of the institution’s policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students?:

Mount Union believes that no student should fail to apply for admission to the University purely for financial reasons. About 76 percent of our students receive some financial assistance based on demonstrated need. The University also allocates institutional funds to be offered to students as merit-based awards. In 2009-2010, Mount Union students received financial aid in excess of $48 million. More than $22 million of that total was awarded in the form of institutional grants or scholarships.


A brief description of the institution’s 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 prepare students from low-income backgrounds for higher education:

Early Intervention Program
With funds from the Bremer Foundation Mount Union began a Great Expectations Program in 1995, which first involves identifying a cohort of students from a middle school in the city of Youngstown, Ohio and programming continues through high school graduation. The focus of this effort is to prepare students from low income backgrounds for higher education. Programming, which continues with support from the Resch Foundation today, includes a summer enrichment camp, weekly visits to the high school, and weekend sessions focusing on academic enrichment, critical thinking, personal development, ACT preparation, career exploration, college preparation and community involvement. The Great Expectations Program is currently working with our fourth cohort of students, who are high school juniors.


A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:

We have partnered with the Mayor of Canton to offer two scholarships to students who live within the Canton City limits and attend a public school there. This is an effort to increase access and is aimed specifically to encourage a population which might otherwise not be college-bound. More information can be found at www.cantonohio.gov/mayor if you need more. (Our old logo is still up there…do not be alarmed…our Marketing staff is contacting them to have them update this.)

Our long-standing Minority Achievement Award Competition supports our commitment to diversity and access and is offered annually. Through this program, students compete for scholarships ranging from $ 2,000 to $ 11,000 per year. The traditional program involves a campus based interview, but our approach is flexible enough to permit SKYPE based or phone based interviewing when a visit to campus is cost-prohibitive.


A brief description of the institution’s programs to guide parents of low-income students through the higher education experience:

We do have programs to guide parents through the higher ed experience; however, it is not designed specifically for parents of low-income students.


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

Our admission programming effort includes the funding of targeted groups of students from designated urban high schools in an effort to increase diversity and access. We visit high schools in urban centers as standard practice within our admission travel season schedule. We participate in programs specifically designed to increase college participation among low-income and underrepresented students including the Bridges Program, NOCHE’S College Information Bureau events and other access fairs and events.


A brief description of the institution’s other admissions policies and programs:
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A brief description of the institution’s other financial aid polices or programs:
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A brief description of the institution’s other policies and programs not covered above:
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The website URL where information about programs in each of the areas listed above is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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