EVANSVILLE - Students in the University of Evansville’s fall 2016 class will be guaranteed to graduate in four years, or the fifth year is on the university.
Also starting with the 2016 class, students are guaranteed to have a faculty mentor, receive a scholarship, get at least one internship and have the opportunity to study abroad. Officials hope these five components of the UE Guarantee, an initiative to launch Tuesday, will help make more students aware of the private university’s commitment to quality, affordability and outcomes.
When UE President Thomas Kazee heard the proposal for the UE Guarantee, he knew it would be possible, with the collaboration of many departments and a commitment from students. Kazee said the program’s “roots go way back” because it was discussed a few years ago, but it wasn’t the right time to implement.
But about three months ago, department leaders started working to make it a reality.
Several intensive faculty input sessions helped create the UE Guarantee, said Don Jones, UE vice president for marketing and communications.
Jones said it’s challenging for an organization to guarantee all five parts, but UE officials know they can deliver.
“This is not going to be an empty promise,” he said.
Kazee said universities must make a more compelling case for their value. The UE Guarantee isn’t just about promoting UE more effectively, but assuring that if the university doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain, students will benefit.
“One reason we are using the word ‘guarantee’ instead of ‘commitment’ or ‘assurance’ is we want there to be no confusion about what we’re saying,” Kazee said.
“We want to be held accountable because we know we can back it up.”
But the guarantee won’t simply be handed to students, Jones said.
Student expectations are the same as they’ve always been, Kazee said. They include:
- Full-time, consecutive enrollment for four years while following an outlined course-of-study plan for on-time graduation
- Successfully completing prerequisite and required courses, as well as GPA requirements every year
- No academic or judicial penalties delaying graduation
- Degree programs requiring more than four years to complete: If the student fails to graduate on time but followed a course-of-study plan, UE will pay up to one additional year of tuition
Kazee said this year’s freshman class declined slightly, even though the number of applicants increased.
UE’s fall 2015 freshmen class is at 515 new students, compared to 532 last year.
Shane Davidson, UE vice president for enrollment services, said more than 95 percent of UE students already receive a form of financial aid. But with this guarantee, all students will receive a scholarship — expect those who are fully funded by a sponsor, government or organization. They are expempt.
Davidson said scholarships can range from $10,000 to full tuition.
For the 2015-16 school year, full-time tuition and fees listed on UE’s website is $32,946. After factoring in scholarships, Davidson said the average net tuition price for 2015 students was just less than $13,000.
“We want those scholarships to be attractive,” he said.
“And to signal a message that, ‘Hey, I can afford UE.’ So many times there’s a myth out there that just in general, private higher education is not going to be something I can afford. And that’s exactly it — a myth.”
With admission counselors already on the road recruiting for 2016, Davidson said the UE Guarantee will be a “strong element in their recruiting tool belt.”
UE officials didn’t model their guarantee on any other college or university, Kazee said, because out of about 40 universities across the country offering a guarantee, UE isn’t aware of any schools that offer the same five components.
“Going forward this will be available to all students,” Jones said. “We don’t see this as something that will go away, that’s why we didn’t take it lightly.”