Cabrini gives out a lot of financial aid to its students, which allows them to have more peace of mind in school.
Cabrini University has been known to give out a lot of financial aid to its students. According to its website, Cabrini gives about 98 percent of its students a financial aid package. These packages average about $16,500 per year, before federal and state loans.
“Cabrini University awards students financial aid packages based on merit based scholarship, acceptance into Cabrini’s honors program, participation in community service, non-Pennsylvania residency, graduating from a Catholic high school and financial need,” according to Cabrini.edu.
Students also have the ability to have financial aid funding through work study jobs across campus. These jobs allow students to earn up to a specific amount of money per semester. They are then placed in their bank accounts via direct deposit.
Thor Kress, the director of financial aid at Cabrini, described the process of how students receive financial aid.
“Students first have to submit the FAFSA and they do that every year,” Kress said. “The FAFSA (the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is available on October 1 every year. The students submits it and it comes here to the financial aid office. From there, we review it again to determine what the student’s financial aid eligibility is.”
“Academic progress is a big piece of that as well because a lot of financial aid programs have academic progress requirements. In order to continue day your state grant eligibility, you have certain academic progress qualifications that you have to meet,” Kress said.
According to USNews.com, Cabrini enrolls 2,436 full time students. 98 percent of the student body amounts to just over 2,387 students. That means 49 of 2,436 students at Cabrini do not receive financial aid in any form.
Increased enrollment
Cabrini has increased its enrollment for the past three school years. The fact that the school hands out financial aid money like a piece of bubble gum may be a factor.
“I think financial aid plays a huge role in where students choose to attend school,” Kress said. “The majority of students at Cabrini are relying on financial aid funding to assist with the cost of education. The overall cost that you’re going to incur when you enroll at an institution, that’s a huge deal for students on where they choose to enroll because you have to think about, ‘how much is this going to cost me every semester and how much out of pocket is this going to cost me’ and they have to think about how much in loan funding that they are willing to borrow for each program so I think it’s a very big factor when students are making their decision.”
The money coupled with the education Cabrini offers is a very strong combination.
“The money wasn’t the only reason I am at Cabrini, but it was a nice addition,” Brad Ganster, sophomore education major, said. “When I visited the campus, I really liked what I saw. The education program here is much better than the other schools I applied to as well.”
“I do receive financial aid but that’s not the reason why I came [to Cabrini,]” Payton Greene, junior exercise science and health promotion major, said. “It was close enough to home but at the same time it was far enough away and I liked the class sizes so I am able to get to know my professors.”
Cabrini accepts 94 percent of its applicants. 4.2 percent of their student body are in the bottom 20 percent of the nation’s economy, according to the New York Times. With the financial aid packages Cabrini gives, the school gives those from poor backgrounds an opportunity to get an education.
