Friday, August 7, 2009

Financial Aid Applications up 67%

Michael Farris, Germanna's Financial Aid Coordinator, reports that applications for financial aid this year are up 67% as of August 6 over last year at the same time. This is 104% increase over the same point in 2007.

Despite no increase in staff in the Financial Aid office because of state budget cuts, Michael and his colleagues have managed to keep up with this tremendous growth in demand. My personal thanks goes out to all of them for going above and beyond to help our students afford college.

Michael reports that students may still apply for financial aid right up to the start of classes. However, he notes that students' awards may not be ready in time to pay for classes the longer that they wait.

Therefore, "... [the student] needs to be prepared to make payment at the time of registration. After the August 12th tuition due date has passed, payment is due at the time of registration. For these students, financial aid is used to reimburse for courses already paid for and cannot be processed quickly enough to reserve courses."

This dramatic increase in applications for aid is due to two things: 1) the economy is causing many more students to need assistance; and 2) Michael, his staff, and counselors and student affairs staff have done a tremendous job of reaching out to students and informing them in a timely way. My thanks again to them all.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Thank you to all the Germanna staff for geting the Stafford Center Ready

My thanks to all those who worked hard on July 29 to get the Stafford Center ready for the Governor's visit and ribbon-cutting.

Shown with the Governor are just a few who made the event possible (from left to right, Ron Williams, Aubrey Collier, Governor Kaine, Garland Fenwick, and Chris Cooper.

Every day our faculty and staff do a great job and much of it is hidden from view.

Tuition

As the Free Lance-Star and the Culpeper Star Exponent note today, community college tuition and fees was increased by 7.6% at the May meeting of the State Board for Community Colleges. However, it is not true that Germanna's increase is more than the other 22 community colleges.

Germanna's tuition is set by the State Board and is the same as 20 of the other 22 community colleges. Northern Virginia and J. Sergeant Reynolds CCs both charge a slightly higher tuition. Germanna has the option of requesting a similar increase, but we have chosen not to do so in order to stay more affordable. Fees varies slightly from college to college, although Tidewater has the highest student activity fee as part of their effort to erect student center buildings.

While the percentage increase for community colleges was higher than other public institutions for higher education in Virginia, it was the second lowest dollar increase across the state.

As a comparison, while Germanna's tuition for an average full-time student will rise by just under $200, both Virginia Tech and UVA will see an increase of about $400 and William and Mary about $500. The difference in cost between a community college education and a state university education in Virginia will thus grow even greater.

Nonetheless, we do not take the cost increase lightly. Our mission is to be both accessible and affordable. We regret any increase in tuition and fees.

But we face the third cut in state funding in less than 2 years, which the Governor will announce in the next few weeks. We are too often faced with a choice between increasing tuition or reducing even further the services and programs we offer our students and communities.

Should further budget cuts put at risk our ability to offer fundamental services or necessary programs, we will be forced to seek additional funding. We hope to do so through grants and donations.

It is a tough time for our citizens, students and communities. Community colleges are being called on to be an even better resource to help turn our commonwealth and nation around, and to prepare the citizens and workforce for a positive future. We at Germanna promise to do all that we can to limit the harm done by the budget cuts and to provide the key programs, learning and services you need.

That is the mission we have signed on to.