The U.S. Department of Education is commending 13 public and 13 private colleges and universities from across the nation for excelling in their efforts to help students from low-income families attend college and graduate. Those schools include Western Illinois University and Monmouth College.
Jason Woods, Associate Vice President of Students Services at WIU, said even in the midst of the budget crisis, Western is placing an emphasis on helping students succeed, no matter their financial background.
“Our goal here at Western Illinois is to serve all of our students and I think we want to continue to provide a high quality innovative education for those students,” Woods said.
Western and Monmouth each took an extra step this year to help students remain in school. They’re covering the cost of MAP grants while the state budget impasse continues. The state awards those grants to students from low-income families.
“It doesn’t change necessarily the way Western Illinois serves our students, it just changes the amount of services we might be able to provide for our students,” Woods said about the budget stalemate and its effect on WIU.
The U.S. Department of Education presented the following numbers for WIU and Monmouth College:
WIU
% of Pell Recipients Enrolled: 43
% of Pell Recipients Graduating in Six Years: 56
% of All Students Graduating in Six Years: 56
Monmouth College
% of Pell Recipients Enrolled: 44
% of Pell Recipients Graduating in Six Years: 59
% of All Students Graduating in Six Years: 58
