A Missouri higher education leader is behind a new approach to college financial aid aimed at helping more students finish what they start.
The program, called InTuition Scholars, flips the traditional scholarship model.
Instead of offering aid as a tuition discount when students enroll, participating universities allow students to earn scholarship dollars gradually by staying connected with advisors and checking in through a mobile app that tracks their academic progress.
Alan Marble, president of InTuition Scholars and former president of Missouri Southern State University, said the program is designed to support struggling students.
"It's really designed for this first generation of students," said Marble, "who are financially challenged and really don't have a background or any help or assistance from family or social circles to navigate entry into the college university world."
He pointed out that the InTuition approach may also appeal to donors, because scholarship funds are tied to students actually finishing their degrees.
Marble said the idea grew out of decades of working in higher education and watching students quietly disappear before graduating. He noted that many colleges only realize a student is struggling after it’s too late.
"Where'd that young lady or young man from last year go? Where'd that person go? And we didn't know, frankly," said Marble. "You know, they'd just become an invisible disappearing student – and so at that point I decided, we gotta do something."
He added that connecting financial aid to persistence could help more students graduate.
"A student that leaves college with debt and no degree," said Marble, "is a problem for themselves and for society.
National data show millions of Americans have some college but no degree – which educators say reflects the large number of students who leave school before finishing.
Support for this story was provided by Lumina Foundation.
The Missouri News Service, a partner with KRCU Public Radio, originally published this story.
