Be Greater campaign: Endowed Scholarships

Students in Developmental Psychology class

The Be Greater Capital Campaign seeks to carry out Hesston College’s mission now and into the future by addressing core needs within our largest program areas. In addition to building projects for nursing and athletics, we view increasing Hesston’s endowed scholarships as critical to keeping the Hesston Experience affordable for as many students as possible. The campaign’s goal is to raise an additional $800,000 for endowed scholarships that will help students to attend Hesston.

Endowment growth – keep Hesston College affordable

Student indebtedness is at an all-time high nationally, and fear of the rising cost of higher education is a main factor in decision making for college-bound students and their families. To assist students with affording the pursuit of their college degree, institutions of higher education have a responsibility to do everything in their power to provide students with a high quality college education via the most cost effective means possible. Hesston College strives to bring our students that high-quality, cost-effective education and will continue to control costs moving forward.

Four graduates at Hesston College Commencement 2016Sometimes, no matter how hard Hesston College endeavors to keep costs down, there are still students who will struggle to meet the financial requirements of paying for their education or are unable to access the Hesston Experience. We are committed to making Hesston College affordable for all students and strive towards that goal every day. We know that Hesston is a special place and we want all students who wish to enroll at Hesston to be able to attend, regardless of their ability to pay.

With a focus on affordability, ​the college’s short term goal has been to minimize tuition price increases. ​​Hesston’s 2015-16 tuition increase of 2.25% was ​the lowest of any public or private four-year school in Kansas. Hesston’s stated tuition cost for 2017-18 will be $25,888, which is only a 2.0% increase from 2016-17​ and will be the third out of the last four years that Hesston’s tuition increases have been below 3.0%. However, with 99 percent of Hesston’s students receiving some type of financial aid, the more important figure is​ the​ net​ tuition​ price after scholarships and ​tuition ​discounts. ​With increases in institutionally-funded scholarships and financial aid, the college’s average net tuition price has​ been flat at $12,500 over the past five years. This is absolutely helping to keep Hesston affordable; however, with more and more pressure on cost and affordability, the role of endowed scholarships is becoming equally critical in keeping Hesston affordable to more students.

The endowment growth portion of the Be Greater Campaign will increase the college’s endowment to create new scholarship opportunities for our students. Additional support from scholarships decreases the amount of loans in our financial aid packages, making a significant difference long-term in the lives of middle- and lower-income students and their families. Today we have more than $200,000 in the “Hesston College Scholarship Fund,” which is an institutional fund. We want to raise an additional $800,000 to bring that endowed scholarship to $1,000,000 that will target high-need students. A $1,000,000 scholarship fund provides $50,000 of annual awards to students. This will make the Hesston Experience attainable for many more students!