Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.24
Liaison Lindsey Lyons
Submission Date April 30, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Dickinson College
PA-8: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.36 / 4.00 Tyce Herrman
Projects Coordinator
Center for Sustainability Education
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and programs in place to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of any policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students:

The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits and trains student leaders from public high schools in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C., to form multicultural teams called “Posses.” These teams are then prepared, through an intensive eight-month Pre-Collegiate Training Program, for enrollment at top-tier colleges and universities nationwide to pursue their academic interests and help promote cross-cultural communication.

The concept of a Posse is rooted in the belief that a small, diverse group of talented students—a Posse—carefully selected and trained, can serve as a catalyst for increased individual and community development.

Dickinson College began its relationship with the Posse Foundation in 2001, with its first cohort of students arriving from New York City. After several successful years with New York, Dickinson expanded its outreach and, in 2005, became the first college on the East Coast to partner with the Los Angeles Posse program.

Dickinson also partners with Philadelphia Futures, College Match, and NJ Seeds
http://www.dickinson.edu/info/20050/diversity/1389/posse_at_dickinson

TRIO: Although Dickinson does not have its own TRIO program/grant funding, we do work with TRIO to expose students to the liberal arts and answer their questions around affordability and access.


A brief description of any programs to equip the institution’s faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:

Students in the Posse program have faculty and staff Posse mentors.


A brief description of any programs to prepare students from low-income backgrounds for higher education:

Prep for Prep works with low-income, strong middle school students and help them gain admission into prep schools in New York City and boarding schools on the East Coast. Prep for Prep continues support throughout high and help to gain admission into highly selective institutions of higher education.

The Lenfest Foundation is dedicated to supporting programs primarily in the areas of education, arts and the environment. H.F. (Gerry) and Marguerite Lenfest established the Foundation in 2000. The Foundation is based in suburban Philadelphia and primarily supports organizations and programs in southeastern and south central Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware.

AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, is an elementary through post-secondary college readiness program designed to increase school-wide learning and performance. The AVID system accelerates student learning, uses research based methods of effective instruction, provides meaningful and motivational professional development, and acts as a catalyst for systemic reform and change.

Streetsquash is an after-school youth enrichment program that combines academic tutoring with squash instruction, community service, and one-on-one mentoring.

NJ SEEDS prepares academically talented, financially limited youth for success at competitive secondary schools.


A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:

Samuel G. Rose ’58 knows that it’s tough to put a price tag on equal opportunity. “One of the major problems in this country is making the playing field level for all people, especially urban youths,” he explains. “Everyone needs education so we can give everyone the same opportunities.”

That’s why the Washington, D.C., attorney and real-estate developer committed $200,000 in 2000 to establish the Samuel G. Rose ’58 Scholarship for economically disadvantaged students from urban areas which reduces recipients' student loans. During the next five years he added more than $5 million, and in September 2007, Rose, a Dickinson trustee emeritus and vice chair at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, committed another $5 million, for a total of $10 million. The majority of that money will go toward the scholarship, while a portion will be given to the athletics facilities renovation project and to the Annual Fund.

The scholarship recipients are chosen by a team of administrators who review grades, high-school class ranks, SAT scores and financial situations. Rose’s philanthropy has been a major boost to the college’s level of diversity. http://www.dickinson.edu/info/20259/grants_and_scholarships/1193/samuel_g_rose_58_scholarship


A brief description of any programs to guide parents of low-income students through the higher education experience:

Dickinson is proud to be a member of the Private College 529 Plan (formerly the Independent 529 Plan), the only nationally sponsored plan that is owned by the participating schools to help families control the cost of tuition and avoid market risk.


A brief description of any targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:

Please see above.


A brief description of other admissions policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:
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A brief description of other financial aid policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:
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A brief description of other policies and programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students not covered above:
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Does the institution have policies and programs in place to support non-traditional students?:
Yes

A brief description of any scholarships provided specifically for part-time students:
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A brief description of any onsite child care facilities, partnerships with local facilities, and/or subsidies or financial support to help meet the child care needs of students:
A brief description of other policies and programs to support non-traditional students:
Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (accessibility and affordability indicators)?:
Yes

Indicators that the institution is accessible and affordable to low-income students::
Percentage (0-100)
The percentage of entering students that are low-income 11
The graduation/success rate for low-income students 86
The percentage of student financial need met, on average 96.30
The percentage of students graduating with no interest-bearing student loan debt 43

The percentage of students that participate in or directly benefit from the institution’s policies and programs to support low-income and non-traditional students:
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The website URL where information about the institution's affordability and access programs is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Percentage of entering students that are low-income is based on incoming first-time first-year student Pell Grant recipients.

The graduation/success rate for low-income students is an average of the six-year graduation rate of the Fall 2006, 2007, and 2008 cohorts of Pell recipients.

The percentage of student financial need met, on average is based on full-time undergrads in fall 2014 and comes from our Common Data Set.

The percentage of students graduation with no interest-bearing student loan debt also comes from our Common Data Set. From CDS, we have the percentage of the 2014 graduating class who borrowed at any time through any loan programs. If we assume that they did not pay their loans off before graduation (which seems safe, since if they were that financially solvent they probably wouldn’t be going for loans), then we can take 100% minus this percentage to get the percent of students graduating with no loan debt. So for the class of 2014, we get 43% graduating with no loan debt.


Percentage of entering students that are low-income is based on incoming first-time first-year student Pell Grant recipients.

The graduation/success rate for low-income students is an average of the six-year graduation rate of the Fall 2006, 2007, and 2008 cohorts of Pell recipients.

The percentage of student financial need met, on average is based on full-time undergrads in fall 2014 and comes from our Common Data Set.

The percentage of students graduation with no interest-bearing student loan debt also comes from our Common Data Set. From CDS, we have the percentage of the 2014 graduating class who borrowed at any time through any loan programs. If we assume that they did not pay their loans off before graduation (which seems safe, since if they were that financially solvent they probably wouldn’t be going for loans), then we can take 100% minus this percentage to get the percent of students graduating with no loan debt. So for the class of 2014, we get 43% graduating with no loan debt.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.