Fort Hays State University in Kansas has initiated a tuition incentive program for students earning better-than-average grades, as part of a payback plan for stimulus money received this year.
As part of the Tuition Incentive Program, students who receive a grade of C or higher will receive $5 back for every credit hour in the class. The money for the program comes from federal money allotted in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
According to Bradley Stramel, president of the Student Government Association at FHSU, the SGA has been cooperating with the Student Fiscal Services by promoting the program to students.
“What the SGA has done so far is to do our best to promote the program. We do it through the campus media and talking to our constituents. Students would be informed by e-mails, campus media like the newspaper and the TV, the Internet, Student Senators — and members of SGA are also putting an effort in spreading the word,” Stramel said.
He added FHSU had raised tuition this year by $6.85 per credit hour, and the program would compensate for most of the increase, provided the students could achieve the required grade.
Stramel said the program is going to be officially launched the Tuesday after finals week and students who have achieved the required grades will receive the money in the form of a check.
Stramel said he thinks the program is going to benefit the students by providing them with incentives to work harder.
“I think that it is a beneficial program to the student body, that it can motivate students to work hard for their finals. It is really great for the federal government to give back to students that are working hard,” Stramel said.
He added he knows students are very happy about the program, and some are even shocked.
John Lucas, spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin, said he is not aware of any similar program being planned at UW.
“It doesn’t really sound like anything that I have ever heard considered of, either at UW-Madison or at other universities,” Lucas said.
