{"id":32,"date":"2019-08-19T08:17:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T08:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/?p=32"},"modified":"2019-08-19T08:17:40","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T08:17:40","slug":"free-tuition-uvi-removes-obstacle-to-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/free-tuition-uvi-removes-obstacle-to-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Tuition — UVI Removes Obstacle to Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Free tuition is now available at the  University of the Virgin Islands. This accomplishment is a part of the University\u2019s strategic plan, \u201cGreatness Through Innovation,\u201d  which states that the University will seek solutions to the impediments that prevent students from achieving their educational goals, including developing innovative strategies to do so.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the support of the VI Legislators and former Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth E. Mapp, Act 8155 was signed into law, which created the\n Virgin Islands Higher Education Scholarship Program (VIHESP) to provide\n comprehensive free tuition to students within its state or \njurisdiction.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UVI\n President David Hall, a key proponent of the bill, believes a college \ndegree is no longer a luxury available only to well-off and academically\n or athletically gifted individuals. “Higher education is a basic \nnecessity and must be provided in the same way we provide other basic \nnecessities,\u201d he says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before it became law, then Senator, now Lieutenant Governor, Tregenza Roach worked to get the bill through the Senate. The Lieutenant Governor first introduced the idea of a free-tuition policy more than a decade ago when he worked at the University and saw the difficulty that students were having in pursuing their studies due to their financial situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In being able to provide free tuition,\n UVI has gone where no Historically Black College or University (HBCU) \nhas gone before by becoming the first such institution to offer free \ntuition to its students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In the nation \u201cstudent loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category – behind only mortgage debt – and higher than both credit cards and auto loans,\u201d according to a June 2018 article in Forbes Magazine. Each year, the struggle becomes more real for many would-be students and their  families faced with the rising cost of higher education.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This\n historic development, which was welcome news to approximately 1,700 \nstudents who are expected to qualify for the funds, also caught the \nattention of news media outlets across the United States, including \nBlack Enterprise, New York Daily News, Amsterdam News, The Philadelphia \nTribune, VIBE magazine, Blavity and The Grio.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\n Hall said UVI\u2019s approach is unique and compelling because funds also \nare being set aside to support students in their quest to excel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The\n Act provides funding so that the University can establish new academic \nsupport programs to help more students in high school obtain a 2.5 Grade\n Point Average (GPA) and new programs at the college level that will \nhelp them to maintain a 2.5 GPA,” says President Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIHESP\n is available to residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands who have graduated\n from a private, public or parochial high school without regard to age, \ndate of graduation or household income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recipients\n of the tuition aid, which would supplement students’ federal \nscholarship awards, university scholarships, and private donations, will\n be required to maintain a GPA of 2.5.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n full tuition scholarships can be applied towards study for a student’s \nfirst associate’s or bachelor’s degree. In order for new students to \nqualify for the funds, they must apply for full-time admission to UVI no\n later than the published application deadline and must have applied for\n federal assistance through the Free Application for Federal Student \nAid. New students applying for admission in the Spring 2020 semester \nmust apply by October 15, 2019. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Free tuition is now available at the  University of the Virgin Islands. This accomplishment is a part of the University\u2019s strategic plan, \u201cGreatness Through Innovation,\u201d  which states that the University will seek solutions to the impediments that prevent students from achieving their educational goals, including developing innovative strategies to do so.   With the support of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}