'Game changer': Concordia College waives tuition for eligible families
Starting next fall, tuition will be fully covered for some newly admitted U.S. students to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.
It’s the first private higher education institution in the area to offer waived tuition, said Enrollment Vice President Ben Iverson, meant to make education more affordable.
Called the Concordia Promise, tuition will be fully covered for students whose families have adjusted gross incomes below $90,000 a year. It will be renewable for up to four years.
It comes as Minnesota’s North Star Program covers public college tuition for students’ families making up to $80,000 a year. The public state program admits only Minnesota residents.
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“The Concordia promise goes a little bit beyond that,” Iverson said, noting both Minnesotans and students from any state are eligible for the Concordia Promise program. “As far as I know, we’re the first ones to go to this extent in the state of Minnesota and in the region.”
Paying for a private education
Iverson said affordability is an “issue” for prospective students and Concordia learners.
“That’s the number one thing we hear when my staff is out on the road speaking with prospective students and families and when they come visit campus: ‘Yes, we love Concordia. This would be a great place to study. But it appears expensive right?’” he said.
Tuition for the 2023-24 academic year is $29,400 without housing, a meal plan and student fees. That brings the yearly bill to over $40,000, up nearly $2,000 from the previous academic year.
In a press release, college President Dr. Colin Irvine said the decision is “a game changer for families in our region and across the country who may have thought a private college education was out of their reach.”
Iverson said Concordia has already been offering “really similar” financial aid packages to students.
As for affordability for the college, federal and state aid are contributing, as well as existing Concordia scholarships and payments from students for housing, food, fees and other costs.
“We’ve done the math and we are definitely banking on the fact that we think this will be attractive to more students,” Iverson said. He says having more students on campus is more sustainable: “As opposed to a smaller number of students who pay more.”
Diversity in numbers
Iverson said the Promise program considers diversity “in the broadest understanding of that term”: socioeconomic diversity, racial and ethnic diversity, geographic diversity.
“I hope will be on the map in some places now that perhaps we wouldn’t have been otherwise,” Iverson said.
Offering tuition coverage to North Dakota students from lower income families is a key aspect of the Concordia Promise, aiming to boost competition among area schools like North Dakota State University, University of North Dakota, Minnesota State University Moorhead and Rasmussen University.
“And then as we did the math it just wasn’t that much more expensive to consider the rest of the United States so we decided to include those students as well,” Iverson said.
The waiver does not apply to international students, represented in the current student body by 60-plus countries. Iverson said separate scholarships are available for international applicants.
How to qualify
Students must be admitted as an incoming student and fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Minnesotans eligible for the Minnesota Dream Act can also apply.
On the FAFSA, filed yearly, families must report adjusted gross incomes lower than $90,000.
Students also need to “maintain satisfactory academic progress,” per Concordia’s website. There is no GPA requirement.
Editor’s note: MPR News has offices and studio space on the Concordia College Moorhead campus.