Baldwin Wallace University Joins Tuition Rewards® Enrollment Consortium
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) August 09, 2013 -- Baldwin Wallace University, one of the few colleges in America where the commitment to a personalized education is so strong that there are no lecture halls on campus, has become the 24th Ohio member of the Tuition Rewards® Private College & University Enrollment Consortium, sponsored by SAGE Scholars.
More than 275,000 students are enrolled in Tuition Rewards -- and can submit their rewards points, redeemable for guaranteed minimum scholarships, to more than 300 participating independent colleges from Maine to Hawaii. Faulkner University (AL), Goshen College (IN), Huntington University (IN), Loyola University New Orleans (LA), Maryland Institute College of Art (MD), Moravian College (PA) and Randolph College (VA) joined the consortium earlier in 2013.
Founded in 1845, Baldwin Wallace was one of the first colleges in Ohio to admit students without regard to race or gender. That spirit of inclusiveness has evolved into a personalized approach that stresses growth as students learn to learn, respond to new ideas and prepare for change.
BW’s location in Berea, a residential community 20 minutes from Cleveland, facilitates the ability to provide liberal arts learning combined with practical career preparation. Students take initiative, supported by many opportunities to succeed, including mentors, access to local leaders and access to internships and field experiences for every interest.
BW’s enrollment includes over 3,000 full-time undergraduate and 4,200 total students. BW has 169 full-time faculty members and a faculty-student ratio of 15:1. Without lecture halls on campus, students rarely encounter a class as large as 40 students. 90% of students who earn a bachelor's degree from BW do it in four years or less. In fact, if a student doesn’t graduate in four years, BW will pay the tuition for the extra time it takes to finish.
Participating high school seniors who graduated in June 2013 submitted Tuition Rewards points valued at $27.2 million to member colleges. Drexel University (214 submissions) and Duquesne University (108) were the most popular choices. Regional leaders included DePaul University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Valparaiso University, the University of Dayton, the University of San Diego and the University of Tampa.
Students, who enroll in Tuition Rewards through family affiliations with participating financial institutions and employers or through an affiliated scholarship program, earn rewards points that can be redeemed for guaranteed minimum tuition discounts at participating colleges. The colleges benefit by the ability to market to the 275,000+ participating students (once they reach 9th grade). Member colleges find the demographics attractive – students from families who are saving for college and who have expressed interest in attending a private college.
"The fact that the number of enrolled students now exceeds 275,000 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," declared Dr. James B. Johnston, SAGE Chairman & CEO. "We will continue to add colleges. However, 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."
39,893 new students joined Tuition Rewards in 2012. 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.
"SAGE Scholars hitting the milestone of 275,000 enrolled students should serve as a very practical reminder to college enrollment executives that SAGE has become a major player in the prospective student ‘match-making’ arena," said Doug Swartz, former VP of Enrollment at three member colleges and chair of the SAGE Advisory Council.
"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, (215) 564-9930, [email protected]
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