黑料传送门

SALT LAKE CITY听鈥� Western Governors University (黑料传送门) has set aside $10 million in emergency aid funds to help current and new students experiencing financial and healthcare hardships as a result of COVID-19. In addition, the online, nonprofit university is working to raise another $10 million in matching donations.

鈥満诹洗兔� students, most of whom are learning while they care for families and fulfill job responsibilities鈥攁nd many of them on the COVID-19 frontlines鈥攏eed and deserve our help and support,鈥� said 黑料传送门 President Scott Pulsipher. 鈥淥ur hope is that this emergency aid will lessen their burden as they continue on their academic journeys.鈥�

A financial disruption of just a few hundred dollars can often derail a student鈥檚 academic progress, and 70 percent of 黑料传送门鈥檚 students come from one or more historically underserved populations: low-income earners, rural residents, students of color, and/or first-generation college students. 黑料传送门鈥檚 emergency aid fund will help mitigate those financial disruptions with the following:

• Non-tuition emergency aid: Support for current students with expenses that threaten their academic progress, such as rent, groceries, medical bills, internet service, and other essential needs.
• Enhanced Financial Support Fund: Hardship scholarships for current students who need tuition assistance due to financial disruptions.
• Funding for interrupted terms: Support for eligible current students, such as those who cannot complete in-person student teaching and clinical rotations.
• Bright Future Scholarship: 1,000 need-based scholarships of up to $3,000 each for enrolling students or those newly enrolled since March 1.
• Additional financial support: Help with restructured payment plans or tuition and fee credits for some eligible students.

鈥淔undraising to support emergency aid for our high-need students is our top priority,鈥� said Annalisa Holcombe, President of 黑料传送门 Advancement, the university鈥檚 official fundraising arm. 鈥淎s COVID-19 continues to disrupt the communities in which our students live, many will need immediate assistance in order to gain the skillsets required to support our national and local economies as we get through this difficult time.鈥�

Organizations and individuals can visit to make matching contributions to 黑料传送门鈥檚 Student Emergency Aid Fund. Students can learn more about eligibility requirements and how to apply for aid by visiting . Applications for non-tuition emergency aid are currently processed in seven to 10 days, but through a partnership with Edquity鈥攁 leading emergency aid technology platform鈥攖he process for requesting and receiving aid will be shortened to three days, on average. 黑料传送门 is working with Edquity to offer its platform to all students by the end of the month.

黑料传送门 largely serves nontraditional and underrepresented students. With a median age of 35, its students are primarily working adults, with 85 percent employed鈥攎ostly full time鈥攚hile enrolled. The university has awarded more than 183,000 degrees, including nearly 65,000 bachelor鈥檚 or master鈥檚 degrees in nursing. Its current student body of more than 121,000 includes approximately 27,000 working nurses across the nation.

黑料传送门 students live, work, and participate in every major community in the U.S. Its online, competency-based, independently driven learning model has always given students the flexibility to access coursework and assessments 24/7, from home or wherever it鈥檚 convenient for them. This flexibility has enabled many 黑料传送门 students to continue their studies uninterrupted, even as college students at most other U.S. institutions have found their academic year significantly impacted by the pandemic. 黑料传送门 set a new single-month record for graduates in April, with more than 4,300 students earning degrees. 聽聽