New College Of Florida Meets White House Call for Affordable, Accessible Higher Education

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President Obama’s White House summit on January 16 called on colleges to make education more affordable and accessible to low-income students.
New College of Florida – in the top three of Princeton Review’s national “Best Value” public colleges – is a working example of how a small college, with just 800 students, can implement many of the ideas discussed at the summit. Among the College’s programs and offerings:

  • A broad and generous financial aid program, where 96 percent of students receive financial aid, and more than 60 percent graduate with no debt.
  • Recruitment that succeeds in attracting and supporting students from low-income families. More than 30 percent of New College students are eligible for Pell Grants, a greater share than at most liberal arts colleges. Pell Grants go to students of low-income families.
  • An online net price calculator, which shows families the affordability and value of a New College education and helps them plan financially.
  • A summer program PUSH (Preparing Unique Students for Healthcare), which for nine years has brought disadvantaged urban and rural students in high school and middle school to the campus to learn laboratory skills, in preparation for health careers. There also is a sister program for middle school students.
  • Partnerships with College Greenlight and College for Every Student, programs that help underserved students and community-based organizations find and apply to colleges, explore financial opportunities and succeed after enrollment.
  • An applicant identification and recruitment program with UnidosNow, a Florida nonprofit organization that advocates for the Hispanic community.
  • An admissions policy that gives special attention to first-generation college students.
  • A unique grading system where professors issue detailed narrative evaluations instead of letter grades. This aids in retention of students who need remedial education or simply are unaccustomed to the challenges of a college environment.
  • A commitment to strong faculty-student relationships, which starts with intensive one-to-one advising and continues in classes with an overall 11:1 student-faculty ratio.
  • An in-state tuition of just $6,783 per year.
  • A top-notch education for that, or any, price: More than two-thirds of New College students go on to attend to graduate school, and the College produces more Fulbright scholarship recipients per capita than almost all U.S. colleges and universities.