BALTIMORE—There’s nothing like free money to incentivize hitting the books—at least, that’s what the University of Baltimore hopes.
To encourage incoming undergraduate freshmen to graduate within four years, university officials are promising to pay their final semester’s tuition, which is likely to be about $3,300 for in-state students and $9,000 for out-of-state students.
The new program—named Finish4Free—would be the first of its kind in the country, according to university President Robert L. Bogomolny, who unveiled the pledge Tuesday.
Officials hope Finish4Free will help the university boost its four-year graduation rate, which has remained low since the university resumed undergraduate education in 2007 after years as a professional graduate school.
Just 18 percent of freshmen in the 2007 class graduated within four years, slightly below the national average of 19.8 percent at schools with similar academic profiles, according to Peter Toran, vice president of university advancement and communications. After six years, 36 percent of the 2007 cohort had graduated, Toran said.
Bogomolny said both rates are “not very impressive” and should be higher.
“Anything we can do to help our students be successful is of great importance to us,” Bogomolny said.
