Poor find UA costs an uphill struggle

They say money a constant worry

Correction: Applicants for the state’s Academic Challenge scholarships may be of any income level. This story about the costs for poorer students to attend the University of Arkansas included outdated information about eligibility for the scholarships.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Gerald Mitchell planned for years to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

"I had known since the eighth grade I was going to come here," said Mitchell, a low-income student from Lonoke. He said he worked at "stacking up scholarships" that, along with grant aid, he hoped would cover his expenses.

But he encountered rising costs after enrolling at UA in 2010. Mitchell put his academic goals on hold for Army basic training, later returning to UA as an Army ROTC student with benefits that now help pay for his education.

"I was always going to join the Army, but I left primarily because I didn't feel like taking loans anymore," said Mitchell, describing how in his second year he faced a gap between his aid and the rising cost of attendance.

The average net price -- expenses minus aid -- to attend UA increased by 44 percent from 2010-11 to 2012-13 for students with family incomes of $30,000 or less, according to federal data for first-time, full-time students.

The net-price calculation subtracts the average amount of institutional and most governmental grant aid -- though not loans or private scholarships -- from a university's total cost of attendance, which, along with tuition and fees, also includes books, room, board, personal expenses and transportation.

The poorest students' rising net-price costs increased by even more than UA's published costs increase over the same time period: $2,687 compared with UA's $1,982. Federal full-time, first-time student data show that the average institutional and governmental aid awards for UA's poorest students decreased slightly during that time period, from $11,950 in 2010-11 to $11,116 in 2012-13.

State leaders have set public goals of increasing the number of college graduates as a way to elevate Arkansas' economic status, which is in the bottom five of all states in median family income, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet paying for college can be a hurdle for low-income UA students, even as top university officials have pledged to increase college accessibility.

Students like Mitchell receiving need-based federal Pell grants -- awards for low-income students -- say it's a yearly struggle to meet college expenses.

UA officials say they are looking to raise money for new need-based scholarships while also offering advice and support to help underrepresented students stay in school.

The university refers to underrepresented students as being from communities or populations that attend college in lower numbers than other groups; first-generation college students; and students with interests in study areas that don't attract many minority-group students or students from a particular gender.

"Financial literacy and financial planning is something we talk to our students about all the time," said Leslie Yingling, director of UA's Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education.

Even students, like Mitchell, who find ways to pay for college, describe constant worrying about finances.

Mitchell, a Pell grant recipient, said his grant amounts stayed close to the same during his first two years of college. But, he said, money worries led him to consider dropping out to attend a trade school or to work in an oil field.

"It's always in the back of my mind, that at some point something is going to happen that you're not going to be able to go on the current path," said Mitchell, now a double major in economics and logistics with plans to graduate in the spring of 2017 and become an Army motor sergeant.

Lio Ibarra enrolled in UA in the fall of 2012 to study computer science. He said his total financial aid consisted of a Pell grant and a state lottery scholarship, which covered most of his tuition costs.

"However, books and transportation, minor expenses like those, not very much," Ibarra said, adding that he began working 20-30 hours a week at a retail store to help cover those costs.

Ibarra was living with relatives on the outskirts of Springdale and commuted to UA. He saw his budget eaten away by trips to campus in a run-down former work vehicle that got only about 10 miles per gallon. He admits that he didn't stick to a strict budget and that his money for school "slowly just vanished."

By the fall of his second year, he said, he knew he would have difficulty continuing with college, even after taking out loans.

"Realizing that you don't have enough money to go back to school, so you won't complete the four years -- you've broken the standard that you have grown up listening to, that you've set up for yourself. So that was a little bit saddening," said Ibarra, who now works full time and is planning to save up to re-enroll at UA.

In a 2013 report, UA determined that Pell grant recipients had a six-year graduation rate of 47.3 percent compared with 61.9 percent graduation rate for students who didn't receive such aid. Pell grant recipients made up 21.6 percent of incoming UA students in the fall of 2013. Nationally, 92 percent of Pell grant recipients, considered family dependents, had family incomes of $50,000 or less, according to federal data for the 2011-12 school year.

An exact number on the lowest-income students at UA is not available. However, federal data show that in the 2012-13 freshman class of in-state students, 358 first-time, full-time students had family incomes of $30,000 or less, and received federal aid like Pell grants -- known collectively as Title IV funds.

The net-price data look at the total cost of attendance, which includes books, transportation and housing, then subtracts the average amount of governmental and institutional aid, not including loans. For the lowest-income group, the net price was $8,801 for the 2012-13 school year. The price those students paid on average is much less than UA's published total cost of attendance, which is $23,066 for the current school year.

Colleges include different expenses when publishing total-cost estimates, which make comparisons difficult. But UA's in-state tuition and fees of $8,210 for 30 credit hours is less than the $8,758 for Louisiana residents to attend Louisiana State University and less than the $9,275 for Oklahoma residents to attend the University of Oklahoma.

For low-income students, "$250 really matters," said Yingling. Her office employs a couple of dozen students to serve as mentors for summer camps hosting high school students.

Eugene Chew of Osceola started UA classes in the fall of 2012. He credited summer jobs working as a mentor and Yingling specifically for helping him stay in school.

The summer program, known as the ACT Academy, was touted by UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart in statements he made before attending a national summit last year in Washington on how to make college more accessible to low-income and underrepresented students.

"It is an honor to be invited to this summit and to have the University of Arkansas recognized for its commitment to recruiting and retaining low-income and underrepresented Arkansans," Gearhart said before the summit.

Mitchell received a $3,500 Razorback Bridge scholarship, which UA awarded for the first time in 2010 and is aimed at students from underrepresented groups. Not every such scholarship goes to a low-income student.

In 2010, the state began awarding Academic Challenge Scholarships that were funded with state lottery money. However, lottery scholarship funding amounts per student have since decreased. These awards, for students in families that have one child and net incomes of $65,000 or less, now range from $2,000 to $5,000 for four-year schools. The income limit is higher for families with more than one child.

Charles Robinson, UA's vice chancellor for diversity and community, said about $1.5 million has been raised toward a goal of $12 million for an endowment to create a new diversity scholarship. The first four or five awards are to be given in August to incoming freshmen.

A separate fundraising effort, outside of UA's diversity office, began in 2007. That year UA launched a fundraising drive to boost need-based scholarships, known as Access Arkansas. The official campaign ended last year and included $1 million in matching funds from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation.

Kristen Johnson of Pine Bluff enrolled at UA in 2010 with enough scholarship money to cover her initial expenses. She said her grade-point average dipped below levels required to keep some scholarships, and even after taking out loans, she owed about $3,000 after the spring semester of her second year at UA.

"It was a major concern," Johnson said. A summer engineering internship allowed her pay that debt, but she said she still struggles financially. She works as a pharmacy technician and was able to enroll this semester only after receiving another scholarship. Still, she says, she plans to complete her requirements for a biological engineering degree in December.

A Section on 03/01/2015

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