03/14/11 kb

HAYS, Kan -- Credit for good grades in the fall 2010 semester resulted in 2,768 Fort Hays State University students saving a total of $293,220 for tuition in the spring 2011 semester, according to the university's Student Financial Assistance Office.

The Tuition Incentive Program was announced as a one-year program in August 2009 by Dr. Edward H. Hammond, FHSU president. TIP funds were designed to offset tuition increases for the 2009-2010 academic year but were extended to cover the 2010-2011 year.

The program uses a portion of FHSU's share of economic stimulus funds appropriated by the state of Kansas to provide $10 per credit hour (up from $5 per credit hour in 2009-2010) to undergraduate, degree-seeking Kansas residents for on-campus classes in which they earned a grade of C or better. TIP funds are automatically credited to FHSU student accounts at enrollment for grades that were posted by the reporting deadline at the conclusion of the previous semester.

The average for each qualifying student this spring was $105 for grades earned in fall 2010.

In the fall semester, 2,438 students were credited a total of $129,385 on their tuition based on their grades in the spring 2010 semester. That rate was $5 per credit hour.

This is the last semester for the program, said Craig Karlin, director of student financial assistance. Students who earn the credits this semester will see the credits applied to their accounts in the fall 2011 semester.

As with the first semester of the program, students who officially graduate at the end of the semester and who do not enroll for the next semester will receive checks.

For more information on TIP funds, contact the Student Financial Assistance Office at 785-628-4408 or e-mail finaid@fhsu.edu.