News track: University of Iowa awards more than $97,500 in 'micro-scholarships' to date

Mar 26, 2017 at 6:00 am | Print View

IOWA CITY — In high schools across the state a year ago, University of Iowa administrators including then-new UI President Bruce Harreld unveiled an innovative approach to getting high schoolers thinking about college by offering incentives for good grades, extracurricular activities and even attendance.

The university was joining several private colleges across Iowa and more than 100 nationally in offering "micro-scholarships" through the online platform Raise.me.

The enterprise aimed to help students in grades 9 through 12 prepare for college by earning financial support to schools of their choice that they could cash in for scholarships upon graduation.

Participating students would build up their earnings by adding achievements to a portfolio — colleges might offer $100 for an A or for taking four years of a foreign language, for example. As long as they met eligibility and deadlines, participants would be promised at least their Raise.me earnings in scholarship awards.

Universities were allowed to tailor their programs to their needs, and the UI's four-year pilot agreement with Raise.me enabled students to earn up to $1,200 toward UI tuition. Its initial offering was available only to the districts in each of Iowa's 99 counties with the highest rates of students qualifying for free- and reduced-priced lunch.

One week after announcing its participation in the program, the UI counted 2,415 student "followers" on the scholarship platform — earning $294,536 in potential aid, should they be admitted and attend.

WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE

A lot has changed since the university entered the Raise.me race, including a reversal led by Harreld of what had been an effort to grow enrollment, specifically among Iowa residents.

Facing a statewide budget shortfall, lawmakers cut the Board of Regents' budget by $20.8 million in the current year — taking back $9.2 million from the UI specifically. And Harreld has said enrollment growth is not a viable strategy. Rather, he aims to focus on maintaining and extending the quality of a UI education, in part by attracting and retaining top faculty.

Harreld has called for more control over admission standards, pitched sharp tuition hikes and tried to eliminate non-need and non-merit-based scholarships already promised to thousands of students, though he reconsidered.

Despite those changes, the UI has not dropped its Raise.me offerings. As of last Monday, it has 15,115 followers on the platform, according to UI Vice President for Enrollment Management Brent Gage.

Those who are eligible now can earn up to $2,000 in total scholarships. In the fall of 2016, 653 students in scholarship eligible districts submitted their Raise.me information, 626 of whom enrolled at the university.

The university to date has awarded $97,561 through the platform, and 850 more students have submitted information for fall 2017.

The institution won't know how many of that total will enroll until August, Gage said.

The university is planning to continue the program, according to Gage, although administrators previously said they will reassess after the four-year pilot phase.

Source: News track: University of Iowa awards more than $97,500 in 'micro-scholarships' to date