'07 freshman class to get additional $9M in financial aid

Beginning next fall, IU will award an additional $9 million in scholarships to 1,000 incoming freshmen, thanks to a plan unveiled Friday at a board of trustees meeting at IU-Purdue Fort Wayne. \nThe program, designed to help recruit top-notch undergraduates to IU-Bloomington, will spread out the money to four aid funds, an IU news release said. \nThe new financial aid package is a mix of need- and merit-based programs that is expected to rise to nearly $10 million annually during the next few years. \n"These initiatives are designed to give the state's best and brightest yet another reason to stay in Indiana and enroll at the state's flagship campus," said Roger Thompson, vice provost for enrollment management, in the release. \nThese initiatives, he added, would also go toward recruiting more minority and low-income students. \nThey include the IU Excellence Award, which aims to provide an incentive for top Indiana high school students to stay in the state, and the 21st Century Scholar Covenant, which provides full supplements to any student already receiving partial compensation under Indiana's 21st Century Scholars program. The 21st Century Scholars began in 1990 to give students from low-income families a way to pursue a college degree. \nIn addition, the new Hudson-Holland Scholar Supplement will provide financial support to students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups and a Research Scholar program, which aims to provide full-ride scholarships to selected students who will assist professors in laboratory research. \nThese initiatives will target students who come from middle-income families, Thompson said. \n"We have not had strong aid programs for these students, but this will change that situation," he said.\nRobin Gress, secretary to the board of trustees, said the Research Scholar program is more than just a financial aid effort. The experience the students gain from being in the lab is "extremely important," she said.\nAlong with unveiling these financial aid initiatives, the board voted to approve the first-ever student housing project at IU-Southeast. The first phase of the two-part project will result in the construction of three buildings, providing dorm rooms for more than 260 students. The first phase, expected to be completed by the fall 2008, will cost about $20 million, according to an IU media release. \nIU-Southeast formally proposed the plan to the board earlier this year, after pursuing the idea for on-campus housing for the past 18 years. \n"The housing project at (IU-Southeast) is an important part of the process and the future development of the campus," Gress said in the e-mail. \nShe added the project was in line with the recent approval by the board to increase admission standards at all IU regional campuses.\nIU-Southeast still needs approval from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the State Budget Committee before building can begin, according to the release.