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New Ellucian scholarships encourage university enrollment during the pandemic

As interest in higher education wanes, the software company Ellucian says it plans to offer students $10 million in scholarships by April 2021.
cartoon image of money topped by a mortarboard
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To ensure that students are able to continue their educations during the pandemic, the software company Ellucian on Monday announced a new initiative to provide financial assistance to students.

The Progress, Accomplishment, Thriving, Hope, or PATH, campaign aims to contribute $10 million to students experiencing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic with scholarships to help them continue their educations, according to Ellucian.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created intense stress and uncertainty among students about their immediate future,” Brian Fitzgerald, CEO of the Business-Higher Education Forum and partner of the PATH campaign, said in a press release. “While there are many educational paths forward including online learning, community college, and returning to campus when it’s safe, we’re concerned that students may choose to pause their studies indefinitely, with devastating consequences.”

The new scholarships follow a recent study from the higher education research firm Art & Science Group showing flagging interest in higher education tied to the current health crisis. The survey found that about 16% of students who before the pandemic planned to enroll full-time at a 4-year institution no longer have plans to do so. The study also found those most at risk of missing out on education during the pandemic are primarily those from underserved communities — lower income families, first-generation college students and students of color.

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Ellucian pledged an initial contribution of $1 million to the PATH scholarship fund and hopes to reach a goal of $10 million by April 2021.

Betsy Foresman

Written by Betsy Foresman

Betsy Foresman was an education reporter for EdScoop from 2018 through early 2021, where she wrote about the virtues and challenges of innovative technology solutions used in higher education and K-12 spaces. Foresman also covered local government IT for StateScoop, on occasion. Foresman graduated from Texas Christian University in 2018 — go Frogs! — with a BA in journalism and psychology. During her senior year, she worked as an intern at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and moved back to the capital after completing her degree because, like Shrek, she feels most at home in the swamp. Foresman previously worked at Scoop News Group as an editorial fellow.

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