Portsmouth, NH – Great Bay Community College is making up to $100,000 in tuition assistance available immediately to students currently enrolled and new students who enroll this fall.
This is an unusually large amount of scholarship money for the college to offer in a single academic year. Historically, the college has provided donated funds at a fraction of this amount. Because of the pandemic, Great Bay has accelerated its efforts to make college accessible, retain students currently enrolled and recruit new students.
Great Bay raised the scholarship money through donations, reserves and is partnering with their Foundation for New Hampshire Community Colleges. The school will focus on leveraging this existing money to raise an additional $100,000 to help students over the coming academic year, said Tina Favara, Vice President of Student Success and Enrollment Management.
Great Bay Community College President Cathryn Addy said the school is a vital part of the Seacoast community, and it was important to provide a new level of scholarship support for the benefit of the school, its students and the wider community.
“We believe that education is an investment in the future and is too important to be overlooked or set aside,” Addy said. “The college has always recognized the importance of financial support for students. The current conditions of the economy, however, make the need even greater, which is why we are trying to help even more students by providing this unprecedented level of tuition assistance.”
To be eligible, students must be enrolled in or making satisfactory academic progress in a degree or certificate program for the fall. Applications will be reviewed in the order they are received, and retention or access-based scholarships will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis each semester.
This scholarship money is intended to cover the gap between federal, state, other scholarships or benefits that do not require repayment and the cost of attending Great Bay, which includes tuition, fees, books, and supplies. Individual awards likely will range from $250 to $1,000.
“Our goal is to assist a greater number of students more equitably by awarding scholarships to students based on their individual needs,” Favara said.
Although this scholarship model is new for Great Bay, it is one that has been successfully developed at other institutions. “We know through numerous studies over the last decade, that financial distress can hinder even the most academically prepared student’s progress,” Favara said. “I believe this scholarship strategy will further our already extensive efforts supporting student success. Great Bay is fortunate to have generous donors who care deeply about student success and the value those successful students bring back to our New Hampshire Seacoast when they graduate.”
For more information scholarships visit www.greatbay.edu/paying-for-great-bay/scholarships-other-aid/. For more information on supporting Great Bay Community College, contact Tim Allison at [email protected] or visit www.greatbay.edu/about/giving.
