Union College Joins Tuition Rewards® College Enrollment Consortium
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) December 13, 2013 -- One of the nation’s most distinguished liberal arts colleges, Union College (Schenectady, NY), has joined the SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards® Private College & University Enrollment Consortium.
Union was founded in 1795; its beautiful, historic campus is located on 100 acres in New York’s Capital Region, an area rich with internship and job opportunities in government, health care and technology.
Hallmarks of a Union education include student-faculty collaboration, small classes, top-notch undergraduate research, terms abroad and service and leadership opportunities. Union’s 2,200 full-time undergraduates come from 37 states and 37 countries; 19% are from diverse backgrounds. The average introductory class has 18 students; the average upper level class, 15. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1, with no teaching assistants.
Union offers B.A. and B.S. degrees, and joint programs in business and management, education, law and public policy, and medicine. Students explore academic fields through inspired combinations of study in 43 majors and 57 minors. Union’s interdisciplinary approach integrates humanities and social sciences with science and engineering, emphasizing hands-on experience.
Students participate in 100 clubs, 13 theme houses, 30 volunteer programs, 10 residential Greek organizations, 26 varsity intercollegiate sports and 55 intramural and club sports. All students belong to one of seven Minerva Houses, part of a unique program encouraging leadership and interaction with faculty.
With the addition of Union and St. Bonaventure University (Olean, NY), 22 New York State independent colleges now participate in Tuition Rewards. New York members include Alfred University, Clarkson University, Elmira College, Hartwick College, Houghton College, Pratt Institute, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, Russell Sage College, St. Lawrence University, Wagner College and Wells College.
Tuition Rewards, sponsored by SAGE Scholars, encourages families to save for college and helps its 300+ member colleges recruit students. Students enroll in through family affiliations with participating financial institutions and employers; students earn rewards points that can be redeemed for guaranteed minimum scholarships – tuition discounts – at participating colleges.
The colleges benefit by the ability to market to the 285,000+ participating students (once they reach 9th grade). Member colleges find the demographics attractive – students from families who are saving for college and have expressed interest in attending a private college.
Tuition Rewards points valued at $27.2 million were submitted by June 2013 high school graduates to the consortium’s 300+ member colleges. Drexel University (214 submissions) and Duquesne University (108) were the most popular choices. Regional leaders included DePaul University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Dayton, University of San Diego, University of Tampa and Valparaiso University.
"The fact that the number of enrolled students now exceeds 285,000 affirms our belief that parents and grandparents, if they truly understood the unique value of private education, could give their children and grandchildren the most precious of all gifts -- a quality education," said Dr. Johnston, SAGE’s founder. "It is apparent that our value to member colleges increases as we enroll more students in our free, searchable database. We intend to do this by dramatically increasing our marketing outreach, both in the U.S. and abroad."
32,000 new students have joined Tuition Rewards in 2013. Neither students nor colleges pay a fee to join. Financial organizations use Tuition Rewards as a value-added benefit, paying a fee to cover administrative and marketing costs. Colleges absorb the scholarships, which are capped at one full year’s tuition, as a marketing cost to be able to effectively reach out to a wider student audience than an individual college could on its own.
19 new colleges have joined the SAGE consortium in 2013, including Baldwin Wallace University (OH), Fisk University (TN), Hampden-Sydney College (VA), Randolph College (VA), St. Bonaventure University (NY) and Southwestern University (TX).
"As attested by its level of growth, the SAGE Scholars Program has proven to be an effective way to make private colleges affordable," declared Dr. Allen P. Splete, former President of the Council of Independent Colleges and a member of the SAGE Advisory Council.
Robert Savett, Sage Scholars, Inc., http://www.tuitionrewards.com, +1 (215) 564-9930 Ext: 14, [email protected]
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