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Awarding Institutional Aid in Difficult Economic Times. Speaker: Janice Hilbrink Associate Director of NY State Programs And Endowed Funds Pace University. Challenges Facing Students And Families:. . Families are saving less annually for college.
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Awarding Institutional Aid in Difficult Economic Times Speaker: Janice Hilbrink Associate Director of NY State Programs And Endowed Funds Pace University
Challenges Facing Students And Families: . Families are saving less annually for college. (The New York Times) . Students borrow more than ever for college. (Wall Street Journal) . Students are faced with credit crunch and higher interest rates.
Unstable Financial Markets: . Financial crisis affects stock markets and investments world wide. . Endowments at all universities nationwide are affected drastically. . Families’ savings and retirement funds are significantly reduced.
Challenges Facing Universities: . Award competitive financial aid packages in order to recruit and retain students. . Be sympathetic to families having more financial need. . Run a university while maintaining a budget with so many funds underwater. . Facing an uncertain future.
Time To Roll Up Our Sleeves And Get Busy… Make Important Decisions About: . Packaging strategies for students. . Renewing endowment scholarships for continuing students. . Turning off our endowed scholarship website.
Fast Facts: . There are different accounting rules for principle accounts and spending accounts. . You can not touch an account whose principle is underwater. (Underwater means account is now less than principle investment.) . You can spend money from spending accounts that currently have funds and/ or that are above water. . Financial Aid, Finance and Philanthropy are the three departments that need to work together.
What We Did At Pace University: . Awarded larger need based grants. . Renewed all endowment scholarships to continuing students, who met criteria. (whether fund was available or not.) . Turned endowed website off, so funds that may not be available are not advertised for new awards.
Renewal Strategies For Continuing Students: . Due to extremely generous financial aid packages, many Pace grants were reduced by the endowed scholarship renewal. . Pace University committed to match donor funds that were renewed and underwater. . Students are still receiving more gift aid than last year. . Students were sent letters explaining why their Pace grant was reduced, along with the benefits of remaining in the endowment program.
The Good That Comes Out Of The Bad: . Students are getting more money. . Retention of students is strong. . Appeals are less. . Students work hard to maintain a G.P.A. of 3.0 to stay in the endowment program. (University criteria) . Thank you notes to donors were higher than usual due to letter sent to students. . Donors are pleased by student thank you notes.
Things Are Moving In A Positive Direction: . Endowed funds are growing. . Our enrollment is up. . There were waiting lists for dorm rooms on all campuses. . We are focusing on one awarding year at a time… . What is your school doing?
Questions? Please feel free to contact me: Janice Hilbrink Associate Director of NY State Programs and Endowed Funds Pace University One Pace Plaza – W-100A New York, New York 10036 (212) 346-1288 jhilbrink@pace.edu