Allegheny College offers 100% tuition
Students’ families must meet income threshold
Allegheny College says it will cover 100% of tuition for up to four years for Pennsylvania students from families earning $50,000 or less.
What Allegheny leaders have dubbed their “Commitment to Access Program” (CAP) applies to first-year and new transfer students starting at Allegheny in fall 2023, plus current students for the 2023–24 academic year. The program is renewable for up to eight semesters, provided students meet income and asset requirements “and remain in good academic standing” at the college, leaders said in announcing the program Thursday.
Allegheny’s published tuition price is $52,950 a year, a sum that does not include room, board and other fees. The total attendance price prior to any financial aid is $69,656 a year, according to data posted on the college’s financial services webpage. Schools including Allegheny already substantially discount those charges.
Colleges nationally, Allegheny among them, have been buffeted of late by financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic pressures that have exacerbated a higher education market already soft given declines in high school graduate numbers. Allegheny is a private liberal arts college, but population loss has been especially pronounced in northwestern Pennsylvania counties immediately surrounding its Meadville campus.
Though well-regarded academically, the school has seen its enrollment decline to 1,370 as of this fall semester, as families faced health and income pressures. As far back as 2017, Allegheny officials said they planned, given the education market, to enroll fewer students.
Still, they expected to be higher — at 1,600 — later this decade.
“Since Allegheny’s founding more than two centuries ago, we have opened doors of educational opportunity,” said Ellen Johnson, Allegheny vice president for enrollment management. “The Commitment to Access Program extends that legacy. We know the cost of college can be overwhelming for many families, and we are committed to making Allegheny accessible to all Pennsylvania students.”
The National Association of College and University Business Officers said that as of last year, private, nonprofit colleges and universities reported an estimated 54.5% average institutional tuition discount rate for first-time, full-time, first-year students in 2021-22 and 49% for all undergraduates. In both categories, the use of grants, fellowships and scholarships means campuses are forgoing about half the revenue they would otherwise receive for the tuition and fees sticker price, the Washington D.C.-based association said in a May statement.
Hilary Link, Allegheny College president since 2019, announced last week she was leaving office for personal and professional reasons, effective immediately. A college spokesman, Josh Tysiachney, said her decision was not tied to enrollment issues.
Mr. Tysiachney did not specify what Allegheny College students on average pay for tuition after financial aid is included but said “many of these students already are attending Allegheny with scholarships and grants from various sources that cover tuition, but we want to make the financial aid process simpler for these families by launching this comprehensive aid program.”
Allegheny students on average paid $25,419 in total attendance costs including books and supplies after all forms of aid were included, according to the U.S Department of Education, citing 2020-21 data, the most current available.
Mr. Tysiachney said 27% of Allegheny students are from households that qualify for need-based federal Pell Grants. He did not say how many current students meet CAP’s income criteria, but said about 100 Pennsylvania students are from families making approximately $50,000.
No additional application is required for CAP, officials said, and students from families meeting the eligibility criteria will be automatically considered for the program, so long as they submit both their Allegheny admission application and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by Feb. 15.
The CAP program “defrays the full tuition through grants and scholarships without any loans. Room/ board and other expenses can be covered through outside and competitive scholarships and loans,“Mr. Tysiachney said.
“We are very grateful to the generous alumni and friends of the college who have made it a priority to support financial aid for new generations of Allegheny Gators,” Ms. Johnson said.