Wednesday, February 26, 2020
How Say Yes Cleveland and College Now are Working to Address Postsecondary Affordability for Cleveland Metropolitan School District Students
by Lee Friedman, Chief Executive Officer, College Now Greater Cleveland
Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab opened her speech at Friday’s sold-out City Club forum with a story about a student who fell asleep multiple times in her class. Frustrated – and assuming the cause was stereotypical college partying – Dr. Goldrick-Rab brought the student into her office hours and asked for an explanation. What she learned, she said, stunned her.
The student wasn’t sleeping because she had been out late celebrating the night before. She was working a graveyard shift at a local grocery store, stocking shelves, to help pay her way through college.
Luckily, the connection Dr. Goldrick-Rab made with this student helped get her into a better situation. Dr. Goldrick-Rab was able to offer the student a work-study job as her research assistant, allowing her to quit her nightly grocery store job and work hours that fit more comfortably into her class schedule, and gave her the funds she needed to help pay for her college education. But, as Dr. Goldrick-Rab reminded the audience, that doesn’t happen for every student working to pay their way through school. Not all schools and professors will have the ability to offer students work-study jobs, and not all students will find a professor or advocate on campus to talk to about their financial situation.
Dr. Goldrick-Rab’s speech on Friday showcased the struggles that students are facing when it comes to affording higher education. At College Now, it is a situation we see nearly every day – students are working to put together a financial aid package that will enable them to afford a degree, pay for the non-tuition fees, like room and board, that are often necessary, and get out with as little debt as possible in the form of student loans. As the cost of college increases, it can become even more challenging to figure out an affordable way to attend college; working to pay a student’s way through college can be unmanageable, as Dr. Goldrick-Rab highlighted, as it can interfere with their class schedule and leave out time for necessities such as homework or sleep. Affording food or housing is also challenging when so much money is being put solely toward tuition. And, for students with loans, that debt can even become a hinderance to completing a degree – and stopping out with loan debt can prevent students from reenrolling at an institution in the future.
But, despite these immense hurdles, we still know that a postsecondary degree is necessary to obtain a livable-wage career after high school.
It was this challenge – the need for a postsecondary degree or credential but knowing there are massive financial obstacles – that was part of the inspiration to find and bring a program like Say Yes to Education to Cleveland. Through Say Yes Cleveland, students will now be more easily able to afford a postsecondary credential, and pursue that opportunity without the intense, additional financial stress they may have previously experienced.
All eligible graduates of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District can receive, upon graduation, a Say Yes Cleveland tuition gap-closing scholarship to an Ohio public four-year university, two-year college, or Pell-eligible trade/certificate program, or to one of the over 100 private college in the Say Yes National Higher Education Compact.
But what does this mean, exactly? How is this helping combat the issues we outlined above?
Say Yes scholarships are, as mentioned, tuition gap-closing scholarships. That means that, once a student’s federal and state financial aid grants and awards are applied, the Say Yes scholarship will cover the remaining tuition and fees balance. In other words, students will not have to take out loans for their tuition or fees if they are eligible for a Say Yes Cleveland scholarship.
Of course, there are still other items that must be paid – items such as room, board, books, etc. However, since students are receiving a tuition scholarship through Say Yes, they are able to use other sources of funding that would have previously gone toward tuition to pay for these other expenses. Students can use institutional aid, other scholarships, grants, and federal student loans to pay for non-tuition fees and expenses. They can have a work-study job to earn money to pay for their books; apply for a scholarship to pay for their room and board; or apply for a federal student loan to fund a non-tuition expense. College Now advisors are available in CMSD high schools and in our free Resource Center located in the Post Office Plaza (1500 West 3rd Street, Suite 125, Cleveland, OH 44113) to help students find these alternative sources of funding for non-tuition expenses, such as books or room and board. You can reach College Now by calling 216.241.5587 or emailing info@collegenowgc.org.
By offering a tuition gap-closing scholarship, Say Yes ensures that students will be able to focus more fully on their postsecondary education. They will be able to spend time on their work and in their classes. They will be able to use funding they would normally put toward their tuition to things like food and ensure that they will stay healthy and alert. They will be able to sleep and be properly rested. In short, they will be able to succeed.
