When students enroll at an institution of higher education, they must navigate new academic environments and decide which classes will advance their pathways toward graduation. Both present learning curves for even the most astute college students.
Just as daunting—if not even more so—is truly understanding financial aid. Getting a clear picture of how the process works sometimes leaves students with more questions than answers.
Recently 360 universities across the nation have taken up the challenge of ensuring clarity, transparency and accuracy when presenting financial aid opportunities to students. Among these institutions is the University of Houston.
UH joined with other top universities to uphold the principles of the College Cost Transparency Initiative (CCT). The initiative partners the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) with leaders from different sectors of higher education to ensure that financial aid remains as clear as possible for students.
“Student success is vital to our mission at the University of Houston,” said UH Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Diane Z. Chase. “We support our Cougars from the time they enroll for their first classes until they cross the finish line with degrees in hand. The University is fully aligned with CCT’s goals of providing students with clear, accurate information related to tuition and financial aid.”
The University has pledged to ensure that undergraduate financial aid information adheres to the following principles and standards.
- Transparency, ensuring that costs are understandable for students and families, and include the most accurate estimate possible of a student’s costs.
- Financial aid communications should describe and explain all types of aid offered using standardized, plain language.
- Critical components should be prominently displayed, such as an estimate of the student’s total cost of attendance, broken down by costs to be paid to the institution and costs paid to others; types and sources of financial aid being offered, separated into grants and scholarships, student loans, and student employment or work; an estimated net price; and more.
- All offers should follow U.S. Department of Education guidance with regard to referencing Parent PLUS Loans.
- Information should be provided about employment requirements and information on job placement, if student employment is offered.
- The terms and conditions and information should explain how much student loan debt may cost over time, if federal student loans are included.
UH already provides students with college financing plans (CFPs) that are in line with these standards. CFPs for undergraduates break down the total costs of attending the University. These include options for grants, loans and scholarships, as well as estimated family contributions.
Beyond financial aid transparency, the University has programs in place that help students overcome any cost barriers and achieve their dream of earning degrees. These include the Cougar Promise, which covers tuition and fees for students from families with an adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less. Cougar Promise was established in 2008 and further expanded in the Fall 2020 to include tuition support for middle-income families.
University of Houston students also can better predict future higher education costs as undergraduate tuition and fee charges will not increase for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years.
Upcoming initiatives include enhanced communication campaigns to further engage students in the college financial planning process. These campaigns would include email messaging, workshops, a new website and graphics.
“Our goal is to keep our students, their families, and the UH community at large updated on these upcoming changes and how their financial aid may be impacted,” said Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Services Tim Council.
Council added that UH’s support of CCT principles echoes its commitment to help Cougars graduate on time and with less debt.
“Providing students with a simplified understanding on the true cost of attending the University of Houston is essential to their success,” Council said. “Students at UH or any other institution should always have a full understanding of the cost of higher education, as well as the rewards that come with earning a degree. We are pleased to offer our full support to the College Cost Transparency Initiative and absolutely inspired to see so many other universities doing the same.”
- Story by Mike Emery (memery@central.uh.edu)