Financial aid
“State budget deal reached, tuition hike still a possibility” in the May 30 Daily contains a quote which implies College of Continuing Education students are not eligible for financial aid. In fact, there are numerous financial aid options for CCE students! Because CCE serves a broad audience of lifelong learners – students admitted to degree and certificate programs, non-admitted students enrolled in credit courses, and students enrolled in non-credit professional development training and personal enrichment courses – it is difficult to generalize about the availability of financial aid.
Students admitted to CCE degree programs, and to a number of CCE certificate programs are eligible for the same financial aid as students admitted to other colleges at the University, provided they meet the additional eligibility requirements specific to each financial aid program, such as residency, minimum enrollment, satisfactory academic progress, etc. Financial aid options for admitted students include federal, state and institutional funds administered by the Office of Student Finance as well as CCE grant and scholarship programs.
Non-admitted students enrolled through CCE in credit courses and students enrolled in CCE non-credit professional development training and personal enrichment courses also have financial aid options. College of Continuing Education grant and scholarship programs, numerous employer tuition assistance programs and some private loan programs are available to CCE students regardless of their admission status and the type of courses or programs which they are enrolled. CCE funds are targeted to students who have financial need and a delay or interruption in education totaling three years or more or are non-traditional students by other definitions. Some government and community agencies may also be able to fund students who are not able to qualify for mainstream financial aid programs.
We encourage students to contact CCE Student Support Services in 150 Wesbrook Hall for additional information about financial aid for CCE courses and programs. Phone 612-624-4000; e-mail [email protected]
coordinator
Researching religions
This letter is in response to Brian Giel’s question on how scientific laws are accepted in the religious classroom. Although he was trying to make a powerful message with a short, bold statement, he obviously didn’t do his research. Most religions accept scientific laws and theories. Even the pope has admitted that evolution is a valid theory and probably true. Before you go criticizing others, perhaps you should do some research first.
Josh Richards,
scientific and technical
communication
No corporate ownership
So poor Ms. Were is claiming in her May 30 letter that the Daily has an anti-Republican bias? Obviously, she has been listening to too many right-wing talk shows and watching too much corporate-owned television.
Sure, one could argue that the Daily is not in lockstep with the rest of the corporate-controlled media. This is a good thing! One of the few bastions of independent print media remaining in the United States is The Minnesota Daily, precisely because it is not beholden to the giant media conglomerates that have gobbled up our newspapers and (formerly) independent weeklies.
Gerhard Vogel,
electromechanical systems
specialist
Faculty salaries
Latasha Webb’s article on June 6 made a comparison of faculty salaries between the average here at the University to those at “other public universities such as the University of Michigan and the University of California-Berkeley.” Her comparison said that the faculty here are paid $10,000 less than at the aforementioned schools. Her comparison leaves out a number of crucial details I will mention that justifies the difference in pay.
When I started attending part-time here at the University, the school was ranked in the top 25. (I think even as high as 19 or so, but I don’t recall.) Currently according to the annual ranking by USNews.com the University doesn’t rank in the Top 51. Instead it is listed in Tier 2 with 63 other schools, which represents rankings 52-115. On the other hand, the University of California-Berkeley is ranked 20th. The University is toward the bottom of the tier in most of the categories such as graduation rate in 1999, percentage of students in top 10 percent of high school class, or freshman retention rates. As a matter of fact, the University is ranked in Tier 2 63rd, 41st and 41st in those categories, respectively. This puts them below such schools as Stevens Institute of Technology, St Louis University, University of Denver, and Colorado School of Mines.
Perhaps it would be fair to compare the University to other schools in the Big Ten. University of Michigan is ranked 25th overall. In fact five of the Big Ten schools are ranked in the top 51 while each of the other 5 rank higher in at least 2 of the 3 categories mentioned and outperform the University in almost every category.
And all of this was before 2001 and while the University received the money that they requested. The University has not performed to its promises. The leadership and the faculty is to blame, and the salary deficiencies are in line with their performance compared to other schools.
Anthony Reel,
political science
