To respond to the financial aid need of students, President Marie George has designated that all the money donated to the Cabrini Fund be specifically used for financial aid.
The purpose of the Cabrini Fund, an annual fund-raising campaign, is to help address the greatest needs of the college, which varies each year. Donations to the fund come from alumni, parents, faculty and even some current students.
“In these difficult times, more and more students are in need of financial assistance in order to stay at Cabrini, so we want to try and help as many students as we possibly can to stay at Cabrini and graduate and continue their Cabrini education,” Wes Enicks, annual giving manager, said.
Cabrini has always been a pricey school for students to attend. The price of tuition alone for a full-time undergraduate student reaches roughly $30,000, excluding the costs of room and board and student activity fees.
With all expenses included, the cost of one year at Cabrini can be up to $40,000. This has clearly become a problem for students, as 97 percent of the campus received some form of financial aid last year.
“Cabrini’s an expensive school and a lot of kids I knew left for financial reasons. I think we can keep our retention rates up if that extra financial aid will help bring up students from lower income families,” Aileen Shotzberger, sophomore graphic design major, said.
The response from members of the Cabrini community has been overwhelming. Collections for the fund began on July 1, 2009 and will continue until June 30 of this year. According to Enicks, the school is already seeing an improvement.
“Compared to this time last year, we are up about 80 percent in dollars raised, and we are up in total donors. I think everyone is responding really well to the cause,” Enicks said. “They’ve really gotten behind this cause of helping student financial aid.”
Enicks and the rest of the Cabrini administration hope to reach $335,000 by the end of the fiscal year.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Emily Fiore, sophomore elementary education major, said. “We’re a private school so we are a little pricier and I think it would make sense to help bring down costs.”
The general consensus among the Cabrini community is that the financial aid cause is a worthwhile one that will leave long-lasting positive effects on students.
“It’s something that all constituents can give to, whether it’s five dollars or 25,000 dollars. Everyone can really make a difference with a contribution to the annual fund,” Enicks said.
