FLORENCE, Ky. — A Northern Kentucky college is offering free tuition to new and some returning students. This is an effort to boost enrollment after the pandemic forced many students to sideline their education.
Gateway Community and Technical College President and CEO Fernando Figueroa explained the reasoning.
“People are kind of feeling uncertain about what their next steps are. We’ve felt that at the college. We’ve felt that across the region,” he said. “What we were trying to figure out is a way to get people back to thinking about their next step, and making sure that we’re removing barriers to do that.”
Sparks are flying, both in the welding workshop at Gateway’s Florence campus, and in the mind of student Logan Justice.
“I was sitting in a class one day, and thinking about what I wanted to do with my future,” Justice said. “My dad was a pipe fitter, so I always kind of knew about welding. And I had welded some with my dad. And I just decided that I can get a degree in two years, and make more than I would typically just going to apply somewhere. So I decided to pursue it.”
Justice is getting hands-on experience, and earning money as part of the Work Ready Scholarship program. The Work Ready Scholarship of Kentucky helps provide up to 60 credit hours of tuition toward one of Gateway’s career and technical education certificates and degrees.
“It allows me to come to school, but also work, and still bring home an income,” she said.
She’s planning to graduate in May, and then hopes to land a full-time position.
Producing skilled workers, or readying students to transition to four-year universities are the two main goals at Gateway, but as it did with many things, COVID-19 got in the way of those goals.
Figueroa said enrollment was down in the fall.
“You go around up and down any street here in Northern Kentucky, you’re going to see help wanted signs everywhere. There are a lot of people that got knocked out of the workforce, and knocked out of the education pathway by COVID,” he said.
To try to turn things around, the college is offering free tuition for one semester to new students, and students who have been gone for more than a year, for spring 2022.
Figueroa said 75 to 80% of Gateway students either work full-time or part-time. He said Gateway is always striving to remove nonacademic barriers.
Justice said she encourages people to take advantage.
“If you don’t qualify for financial aid, most people are working to come to school, or they make just enough to pay for school, and can’t afford tools or things they need. So if it’s free tuition, I mean, I don't know why you wouldn’t come to school if it’s gonna be free,” she said.
Eligible recipients must be a first time Gateway/Kentucky Community and Technical College System student, or have been gone for over a year.
Students need to complete a 2021-2022 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application, but they don't need to be eligible for aid. If the recipient is a Kentucky resident, they must complete a Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship Application, which is not required if pursuing an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree. Students do not need to enroll in a Work Ready eligible program to be eligible for this scholarship.
They must enroll as a credential-seeking student, taking courses toward earning a college credential. Only courses required in degree programs are eligible for free tuition.
Recipients must be enrolled in a minimum of six Gateway credit hours at the time award is made, and have Gateway listed as home campus.
Recipients must be enrolled in classes by Nov. 29, 2021. The deadline to apply for free tuition is Nov. 15, 2021.
This is a “last-dollar in” tuition only scholarship, meaning after all other financial aid or third-party payments (excluding student loans) are applied, the scholarship will cover the remaining tuition balance. Funding is limited and will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.