Sunday, September 30, 2012

Good news in the age of higher education bubbles ...

The University of Dubuque has been given an anonymous $12 million dollar gift, the annual return on which will be used to offset tuition. From the Dubuque Telegraph Herald:

“It’s the kind of thing that makes good schools better and improves the lives of students for years to come,” UD President Jeffrey Bullock  said. “We have an attitude of gratitude and a commitment to paying it forward. We believe in that, and when the students who benefit from this are in a position to help we hope they will.” 
In a statement the donor reflected on being the first individual in his family to have the opportunity for both a high school and college education, and many people supported that graduation dream. ... 
Bullock said other than Grinnell, every other Iowa college is tuition dependent. Bullock said the university is always cognizant of costs and its sticker price is one of the lowest in Iowa, but the board has set an aggressive goal for increasing the size of its endowment fund.
“We give away $13 million a year in student aid and it is our goal to increase the size of our endowment in a way that makes college more affordable,” Bullock said. “One of the ways to stay competitive is to offset the cost of tuition.”

One of the happiest things about this, of course, is the sense in which it runs counter to the general trend, as documented here. God bless this anonymous donor!

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