IU to cover tuition for Pell recipients

Officials announced Friday that the University will cover the remaining tuition balance for incoming students who already receive aid from federal Pell Grants. \nIU President Adam Herbert and IU Interim Provost Michael McRobbie unveiled the plan at the board of trustees' regularly scheduled business meeting at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis.\nThe $1.8 million initiative aims to pick up where federal aid ends for some students, and it will affect more than 500 IU recipients of federal Pell Grants, according to an IU news release. These students will now have all tuition and fees covered by IU and will only be responsible for purchasing books and paying for living expenses, according to the University. \nTo get the aid, students must score at least 1,150 on their SATs and maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA once they are at the University, according to the release. Last year, the average SAT score for incoming freshmen was 1,110, according to CollegeBoard statistics. \n"There was a big gap," said Larry MacIntyre, director of IU Media Relations. "It used to be you could receive up to $4,000 (from the government), and that didn't cover all of the costs." \nMacIntyre said these initiatives were set up for students whose parents earned too much each year to qualify for other aid opportunities but still required financial assistance.\n"You can't say IU costs too much and is not serving Indiana," he said.\nThe announcement comes in the wake of four other financial aid programs announced last month. These programs are the IU Excellence Award, the 21st Century Scholars Covenant, the Hudson-Holland Scholar supplement and the Research Scholar Program. \nAlthough all these programs do not necessarily aim to assist low-income families, they will add to the general aiding capacities of the University. It will take several years for some of these programs to take full effect, but eventually, $13 million will be added to University financial aid as a result of these programs.\n"This important initiative reflects the continuing commitment of Indiana University-Bloomington to eliminate financial barriers that prevent the enrollment of students from low-income families," Herbert said in a statement.\nFederal Pell Grants have existed for more than 30 years, but unlike some other federal financial aid programs, Pell Grants do not require repayment. For students to qualify for Pell Grants, the government examines areas such as expected family contribution, the cost of attending the institution and whether the student attends full-time. \nIU trustee Sue Talbot said the board also approved all three items up for vote on the docket: clarifying the relationship between the University president and the president of the IU Foundation, approving the board's committee priorities for 2006-07 and approving seven new members to the IU-Southeast board of advisors. \nAlthough the Dec. 31 deadline looming for Bloomington Hospital and health care provider Anthem/WellPoint to reach a new contract, Talbot said the board did not discuss the dispute during a health care update by Dan Rives, IU associate vice president for administration and University human resources.\nTalbot said Rives' presentation focused on the rising cost in health care and how IU has striven to keep costs low for employees. \n"(The dispute between Anthem and Bloomington Hospital) is just something we can't do anything about," she said. "They are still in negotiations"