Schools
Palo Alto University Saves Students $748K in First Year
Students not only benefit from the university's tuition program, but potentially also from the federal government's debt forgiveness one.
With student school debt approaching nearly $1.2 trillion, the ability to save a little in tuition can go a long way.
Palo Alto University announced last week its student had save nearly $748,000 in just one year due to the school's Tuition Stabilization Program. The program, which launched in Fall 2011, allows students to lock-in their tuition rate for the duration of their academic stay.
"We didn’t want PAU students to become part of these statistics, so in 2011, we launched our own initiative to save our students money," said Allen Calvin, Ph.D., president of PAU. "Our Tuition Stabilization Program has already saved students $748,000 in its first year. We project future savings over the next five years at about $3.75 million."
In their announcement, PAU referenced how the College Board and Census data revealed that the average tuition at a public four-year college had increased by more than 250 percent over the past three decades, yet income for the average American family grew by only 16 percent. The data also reveals that the average borrower graduates with more than $26,000 in debt and just 58 percent of full-time students who began college in 2004 earned a four-year degree within six years.
"When you account for inflation, the tuition costs for PAU students will actually go down over time in real dollars," adds William Froming, provost at PAU and chief architect for the Tuition Stabilization Program. "Our Tuition Stabilization Program removes the worry of future tuition increases. I am not aware of any other university currently offering this."
Further good news for PAU's psychology students includes the increased efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to educate employers about the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program program, which forgives the debt of those who enter public service after 10 years.
Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
