In tough times, affordability remains priority for NU

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BY MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star

Nancy Becker and her staff at North Star High School hear it nearly every day from students.

College isn’t for me..

I just can’t afford it

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NU President J.B. Milliken

NU President J.B. Milliken

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College tuition costs

As the cost of higher education rises and the economy weakens, NU leaders say they're more committed than ever to maintaining affordability....

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The North Star principal — and many other education leaders across the state — want those students to know college can, in fact, be the place for them.

“This whole idea of continued learning — it is vital to students’ success later in life,” Becker said. “You just can’t deny that.”

That’s the idea behind a new University of Nebraska campaign to spread the word on a financial aid initiative aimed at helping thousands of students across the state pay for college.

On Monday, NU President J.B. Milliken and Gov. Dave Heineman will make joint appearances at North Star, Omaha South High and Grand Island Senior High — all schools with traditionally low college-going rates — to share details of the newly expanded aid initiative and discuss the importance of a college degree.

They’ll tell students that even though financing a college education sounds tough, plenty of resources are available.

That message is a reflection of NU’s commitment to affordability even during an economic downturn, Milliken said.

Indeed, he said, as NU leaders step up discussions on cost-effectiveness in anticipation of lean times ahead, issues of access won’t be far from their minds.

“We’re a public university and (access) is our highest priority,” Milliken said in an interview. “Despite the tough economy, our goals remain the same.”

The weak economy already has begun to hit colleges and universities hard. Rhode Island’s three public institutions and Michigan State University, for example, have announced rare mid-year tuition increases, and California State University, the nation’s largest four-year public university system, plans to cut enrollment by 10,000 next fall because of funding cuts.

Nebraska is fortunate, thus far, not to have been hit as hard as other states, Milliken said. NU has no plans for new tuition increases this academic year, he said, meaning the current rates — about $13,700 for tuition, fees, and room and board for an average in-state student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this year — are expected to stick.

Still, he said, he’s “very concerned” about how the nation’s economic woes could impact access to higher education.

“There’s no doubt in my mind (the economy) will affect students’ ability to pay for college,” he said.

Survey after survey shows that the belief that college is too expensive is a leading reason students don’t pursue higher education, Milliken noted.

NU, he said, must work to counter that belief, especially at a time when many families are tightening their belts.

That’s where tomorrow’s get-out-the-word campaign comes in.

Many families simply don’t know about the financial aid opportunities open to them, Milliken and Becker agree.

One little-known NU program, for instance, guarantees tuition aid for the most needy students. That “sends a powerful message” to students who might have thought college wasn’t financially possible, Milliken said.

And the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation sponsors a scholarship program that grants need-based aid to students at public colleges and universities in Nebraska.

At NU, such “Thompson Scholars” can live in learning communities, take courses together and have access to workshops and tutoring that help them succeed.

NU also has partnered with Heineman and Lincoln-based EducationQuest Foundation on KnowHow2Go, an educational campaign to help familiarize students and their families with the path to higher education.

In a related effort, NU sends the state’s eighth-graders a packet — in both English and Spanish — that includes NU’s admissions requirements, financial aid information, highlights about each of NU’s four campuses and a letter from Milliken encouraging them to start thinking about and saving for college.

All those initiatives now are as critical as ever, Milliken said.

NU has enjoyed significant progress in key areas in recent years — enrollment, research expansion and the prospect of Innovation Campus, which NU leaders hope will spur economic development — and can’t afford to lose ground, he said.

Maintaining affordability, he said, will help ensure NU continues to grow even in a difficult time.

“We need to manage this period in such a way that we don’t lose momentum.”

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.