Virginia State Boosts Aid to Limit Student Debt
PETERSBURG, VA.
Beginning this fall, academically gifted, low-income Virginia State University students will get enough financial aid to cover 100 percent of their college costs.
Officials at the historically Black university tout the new program, called Low Income Families with Talented Students (LIFTS), as “a first-of-its-kind” effort among public HBCUs. The program will cover 75 percent of student costs through grants and will limit loans to 25 percent of the school’s in-state tuition costs over four years.
VSU President Eddie N. Moore Jr. says the LIFTS program was developed in response to the increased competition
for top students.
“Other schools within Virginia have developed programs similar to LIFTS,” he says, “but I can’t recall another HBCU, particularly a state-supported HBCU, that has put into place such a
far-reaching guarantee.
“The competition for top students has become very intense. We know we can provide the academic coursework these students desire, along with the unique experience of attending an HBCU.
The LIFTS program makes us equally competitive in the financial aid we
can offer to a talented student considering VSU.”
