foiling the drop-out trap: retention and completion grants ...€¦ · income students with unmet...

National Scholarship Providers AssociationMaggie Brubaker, Membership and Programs Manager

National Scholarship Providers [email protected]

303-442-2524 | scholarshipproviders.orgTwitter: @NSPA_Tweets

PresentersShari Garmise

A � P� L� UTimothy M. Renick

Georgia State UniversityBoyd Bradshaw

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

NSPA Webinar

Foiling the Drop-out Trap: Retention and Completion Grants to Drive Student SuccessFinancing gaps, life challenges and compartmentalized university bureaucracies are among the obstacles that impede students who are just credits or semesters away from graduation. These challenges are particularly pronounced for low-income students with unmet financial need who may work multiple jobs, max out loans and grants, or forego key academic resources (e.g. textbooks), which interferes with their ability to succeed academically and make it across the graduation finish line. In some cases, these students may be forced to drop out but for $600. In this webinar, participants will learn about retention and completion grants, which are an important tool designed to help students stay in school and on track toward graduation. They will hear from some of the pioneers of this approach on how to get it started, how to drum up support for it, and how to finance it.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.scholarshipproviders.org/








NSPA WebinarMeet the Presenters

Shari GarmiseVice President, USU/APLU Office of Urban Initiatives,

A � P� L� U

Timothy M. RenickVice Provost and Vice President for

Enrollment Mngmt. & Student SuccessGeorgia State University

Boyd BradshawAssociate Vice Chancellor for

Enrollment Management IUPUI










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Before We Begin












NSPA Webinar

Foiling the Drop-out Trap: Retention and Completion Grants to Drive Student SuccessFinancing gaps, life challenges and compartmentalized university bureaucracies are among the obstacles that impede students who are just credits or semesters away from graduation. These challenges are particularly pronounced for low-income students with unmet financial need who may work multiple jobs, max out loans and grants, or forego key academic resources (e.g. textbooks), which interferes with their ability to succeed academically and make it across the graduation finish line. In some cases, these students may be forced to drop out but for $600. In this webinar, participants will learn about retention and completion grants, which are an important tool designed to help students stay in school and on track toward graduation. They will hear from some of the pioneers of this approach on how to get it started, how to drum up support for it, and how to finance it.



IUPUI Completion Grant Program: Getting Students Down the Homestretch

Dr. Boyd A. BradshawAssociate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management

The IUPUI Homestretch Award Program

• Need-based financial aid program to incent resident students to complete bachelor’s degree with a forgivable institutional loan of up to $5,000

• Institutional loan is replaced by grant if student graduates as planned

• Student signs contract of understanding and loan promissory note• In theory the additional funds permit the student to enroll full-

time, possibly reduce personal work hours, and provide financial incentive for graduation

• Some of the students may have exhausted federal and state funding sources

6

Rationale for starting the program

• Degree completion agenda• Graduation rate so important to ratings and

performance based funding• Prior iteration of program with word-of-mouth

application process had mixed results• Students near graduation seemed like worthy

group to support, especially if federal and state aid exhausted

• Providing this forgivable loan funding might be the “nudge” students need to complete degree

7

Student qualifying criteria used and how selected

Target group of students met certain criteria…• Fifth or sixth year of study based on

first time/full time cohort entry year• Had a minimum of 80 credits and

2.00 cumulative GPA• Demonstrated financial need

8

Terms and conditions

• Students awarded with “offer only” loan and sent correspondence of congratulations and “contract”

• Recipients required to confirm on track to graduate in 2-3 semesters with simple contract signature (no advisor signature required)

• Students required to accept loan offer and sign loan promissory note

• Funds disbursed each semester with other aid• Once degree posted loan funds switched to

grant funds and loan funds are automatically repaid

9

Homestretch Program Results• 2013-14: 112 of 150 (75%) graduated on-time*• 2014-15: 37 of 71 (52%) graduated on-time*• 2015-16: 54 of 70 (77%) graduated on-time*• 2016-17: TBA of 263 (TBD)

Of those that did not graduate on-time the majorityremained enrolled in following year

* “On-time” = completed degree by end of summer

10

Metrics/data collection strategies and how data is used

• Gather data set after June financial aid packaging with these variables:

• FT/FT cohort year began• Number of credits achieved• Unmet need• Pell and Direct Loan usage

11

Staffing and organization

• Those involved include Student Financial Services director, data staff, and client services staff answering questions

• Also requires institutional loan management/collections staff

12

Financing and costs

• Homestretch program maximizes scarce resources because if student does not graduate as planned grant funds are not used

Fund Scenario Example: 150 students x $5K = $750,000 of fund use

112 graduate x $5K = $560K grant funds38 do not graduate, will repay $190K over 10 year

repayment period

• Students that do not graduate as planned still benefit from loan funds and most are still enrolled

13

Navigating roadblocks and lessons learned

• Requiring student to work with academic advisor to confirm they can graduate within 2-3 semesters is unnecessary

• Student can be encouraged to meet with advisor to determine ability to graduate, recognizing student will still be responsible for loan debt if they do not graduate

• Avoid application processes that are difficult to distribute and get students to complete; better to do “behind the scenes awarding” so if student completes FAFSA they will be considered for award

• Must have enough institutional loan funds to be offered up front

14

Questions to consider

• Do we provide scarce resources to students that are already on-track to complete degree?

• How do we determine which students absolutely need funding—and just as important, which students will benefit from the funding in a positive outcome?

• Can we leverage the goodwill created by making such a large investment and demonstrating that we care about student success

15

Implementation at your institution

• Identify loan and grant funding support

• Work with financial aid office to identify target students

• Work with institutional loan office on loan logistics

• Track results and evaluate annually

16

Using Analytics and Targeted Aid To Close Achievement Gaps

Timothy M. Renick, Ph.D.Vice President for Enrollment Management& Student Success and Vice Provost

NSPA WebcastDecember 5, 2016

The Challenge in Front of Us

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Bach

elor

’s D

egre

e A

ttain

men

t Rat

e(m

ovin

g 3-

year

ave

rage

)

Baccalaureate Degree Attainment by Age 24 by Family Income Quartile

Source: New York Times, “The Reproduction of Privilege,” March 12, 2012

Top Income Quartile

Third Income Quartile

Second Income Quartile

Bottom Income Quartile

40.2%

82.4%

14.9%

36.1%

10.9%

16.5%

6.2% 8.3%

• 32,500 Students on the Atlanta campus• Research University status achieved in 1995

53% 53% 54%56%

59% 60%

63%65%

50%52%54%56%58%60%62%64%66%

Fall2008

Fall2009

Fall2010

Fall2011

Fall2012

Fall2013

Fall2014

Fall2015

Underrepresented Minorities

Changing Demographics: Race & Ethnicity

31% 32%40%

48% 51%56% 58% 59% 59%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Fall2007

Fall2008

Fall2009

Fall2010

Fall2011

Fall2012

Fall2013

Fall2014

Fall2015

Percent of Georgia State Undergraduates on PELL

Low-Income Students

Strategy 1: Know Your Students

WORK INCOME

FAMILY CONTRIBUTION

LOANS

PELL

HOPE

UNMET NEED (In some cases

more than $15,000)

Unmet Financial Need

• There were over 14,000 students at Georgia State with unmet need during Fall 2016

• Students with unmet financial need often must take on multiple off-campus jobs, forego buying text books, and make other choices that negatively impact their ability to succeed academically.

“Full” Cost of a Year Georgia State Undergraduate Education:

$22,400(Including in-state tuition, fees, books, room, board and incidentals)

Strategy 1: Know Your Students Fragile Finances on the Rise

$0$1,000$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000$6,000$7,000$8,000$9,000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Only Students with Completed FAFSA & EFC on File

Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

Senior

Average Unmet Need by Student Level by Fall Term

2008 2015

Undergraduates $4,068 $6,793

Seniors $6,634 $8,303

* Includes Freshman, Junior, Sophomore, and Senior

Strategy 1: Know Your Students

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

Neg. Need -0 Need

>0 - 3K 3K - 6K 6K - 9K 9K - 12K 12K - 15K 15K+(Fall 2008, Undergraduate Students)

Impact of Unmet Financial Need on Academic PerformancePercent of Students with a 3.0 GPA or Above by Financial Need

The Loss of HOPE

60.9%

21.2%

0%

18%

36%

54%

72%

HOPE HOPE HOPE - NoHOPE

Six-Year Graduation Rates in 2008

In 2008, students who lost HOPE support were graduating at only one-third the rate of those who never had HOPE support in the first place.

High School

GPA 3.0+

High School

GPA 3.0+

• Targets students who have lost HOPE with $500/semester for one year on the condition they attend year-long series of academic skills workshops and individual advisement sessions

Improvement in Graduation Rates for Students who lose HOPE between 2008 and 2014:

+20 percentage points

Keep HOPE Alive

8.6%

62.5%

0%

8%

17%

25%

33%

42%

50%

58%

66%

Non-Participants Participants

27

Panther Retention GrantsMotivation• University was dropping 1,000+ students every

semester for non-payment of tuition and fees

• Largest sub-group was seniors; many students had modest balances

Criteria• No application process• Unmet need by federalStandards• Academically on track

Grants Since 2012: 7,291

Panther Retention Grants

Seniors Graduated: 70%

Grant Recipients Graduated 2015-16: 1,257

Georgia State Degree Conferrals

Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-155-Year

Change

African American

1,001 1,322 1,440 1,550 1,692 1,825 82%

Pell 1,298 1,648 1,835 2,007 2,052 2,501 93%Hispanic 196 300 328 372 414 435 123%

Top 100 Degree Producers2014 African-American Bachelor's - All Disciplines Combined

#1 in Degrees Conferred to African Americans

Total %Grads %Chg

Institutions State

1 Georgia State University GA 1645 35% 8%2 FAMU FL 1475 95% 6%3 North Carolina A & T State University NC 1214 87% 7%4 University of Central Florida FL 1195 10% 2%5 University of Maryland-University College MD 1073 26% 5%6 University of Memphis TN 1016 34% 9%7 Jackson State University MS 987 90% 11%8 Howard University D.C. 966 94% -15%9 The University of Texas at Arlington TX 951 14% 10%

10 Florida Atlantic University FL 905 18% -2%

Source: Diverse Issues in Higher Education

140 140141 141

138

135

133

130

135

140

145

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Credit Hours at Completion: All Bachelors Students

Decline in Time to Degree

33

33

$15 millionSavings to the Class of 2016 in tuition

and fees when compared to the

Class of 2013

ROI for Students








NSPA Webinar

And a big thanks to our presenters:

Shari GarmiseTim Renick

Boyd BradshawWe hope this information is helpful to you and your programs.

ReminderA recording of this webinar will be sent out in a follow up email to all registrants.

It will also be posted on the NSPA website in the Members Only section.

Thank You for Joining Us!



foiling the drop-out trap: retention and completion grants ...€¦ · income students with unmet...

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