The university has raised $80,000 for students who need financial aid to stay in school since a special fundraising campaign began earlier this month.
After seeing financial aid appeals increase by 37 percent since this time last year, university officials launched the Keep Me Maryland campaign, which asks donors to give funds so students facing financial difficulty due to the economic downturn can stay at the university.
"Even small amounts of money can make a difference to an individual student," said Vice President for University Relations Brodie Remington. "Times are tough. A relatively small amount of money can have a big impact."
The new initiative is part of the university's Great Expectations campaign, which aims at raising $350 million toward scholarship funds and $1 billion overall by 2011. In December, the university gave financial assistance to 300 students who otherwise would not have been able to return in the spring due to unexpected financial hardship, and as months passed, administrators began noticing a similar trend among students. With "enrollment in the installment Terp Payment Plan rapidly increasing," according to the program's website, administrators decided to take action. Barbara Gill, the director of undergraduate admissions, and Sarah Bauder, the director of student financial aid, presented the increasing financial needs of students to the University of Maryland, College Park Foundation Board of Trustees in February, and the university began requesting a larger number of smaller, one-time gifts from alumni and donors that could go toward students' educations.
Remington said the university is using a funnel approach to solicit funding, starting with the Board of Trustees and then using mailings, phone calls and the new Keep Me Maryland website to reach out to the alumni community.
Though the university hopes to raise additional funds with those small donations, the appeals process for financial aid will remain as in the past.
Students first submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid with the U.S. Department of Education to apply for financial aid, but in many cases unexpected situations - such as if a parent loses a job - make it impossible for some students to stay enrolled because of the financial strain of paying tuition. These students may apply for financial aid, but university officials are worried about meeting the growing demands.
The financial aid office expects $3 million worth of requests this year and was only able to fund $500,000 last year, Bauder said. The office grants $2,500 to $3,000 on an average appeal, which is funded through the operational budget, she added.
Though $80,000 is a significant amount for the program to have raised during its short lifespan, it is just a small drop in the bucket, comparatively, Remington said.
"I expect we'll do a good deal more than that," Remington said. "By June, we will raise several times that."
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