Embry-Riddle’s Prescott campus was recently named by AffordableCollegesOnline.org – which pooled data from NCES, IPEDS, payscale.com, and Carnegie – as one of only one percent of United States universities with a “million dollar return on investment,” joining other elite schools on the list like the Ivies, Stanford and MIT. If young people could afford to make such an investment, the possibilities are limitless. The reality is, elite options like these may be more realistic than a first glance at a daunting “cost of attendance” page may suggest.
This past fall at Embry-Riddle, the average scholarship for entering freshmen was equivalent to 40 percent of annual tuition. That is an average, meaning students with higher academic profiles received even more. This practice is common among top tier private institutions, and Embry-Riddle is in about the 50th percentile both in average tuition cost and scholarship award for private universities. Local students coming to Embry-Riddle could save an additional $10,000 by not incurring room and board charges. Even without these additional savings, the value of an elite private education – in terms of small class sizes, access to professors and resources, and enhanced student and career services, as well as in earning potential afterward with alumni networks and other factors that land schools on the list above – makes it a sound investment in themselves and their future for young people and their families.
Dollars from the institution do not make up the whole financial aid package, either. Filing out the FAFSA, an acronym for “Free Application for Federal Student Aid,” gives families access to thousands more dollars in federal grants, subsidized low interest loans and other need-based aid. There are also millions of dollars in external scholarships that go unclaimed every year due to a lack of qualified applicants, which often means no one filled out the application. When young people balk at the time and effort required for this endeavor, I often frame it as: “If you spend 10 hours filling out online applications and tweaking one essay and receive one $500 scholarship, what else will you be doing that is earning you $50 an hour?” A list of external scholarship searches and resources – applicable to any college as well as Embry-Riddle – can be found on our financial aid website at: www.prescott.erau.edu/financial-aid/scholarships.
Encourage young people to dream big, and not limit their opportunities due to misperceptions about affordability and access to some of the best schools in the world – one of which may be in their own backyard. QCBN
Bryan Dougherty is dean of enrollment management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University. For more information, call 800-888-3728, or visit www.Prescott.erau.edu.
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