UConn 'Pausing' Free Tuition Program For Low-Income Students

STORRS, CT — The University of Connecticut is "pausing" a program designed to offer free tuition to students living in homes with income levels of less than $50,000 with officials citing, in part, stalled fundraising levels that coincide with the coronavirus pandemic.

UConn President Thomas Katsouleas made the announcement related to the Connecticut Commitment program to the university trustees Wednesday.

Katsouleas announced the program a year ago and said fundraising began well, including a $1 million gift from Synchrony Financial in December 2019, as well as other donations.

"We are grateful for every penny from every donor to support our students," he said.

But then things stalled, he added, and doubts began to surface about raising the $5 million minimum necessary to sustain students for four years. The projected cost this year is $700,000 he said.

UConn has sufficient funds to cover the first year for the 260 student enrolled in the program, Katsouleas said.

"Raising the money to cover the program’s costs over four years was always an ambitious goal, but I was optimistic as of last fall that it could be done," he said. "While we did see a significant $2 million uptick in our fundraising for need-based aid over the last year, most of which is attributable to Connecticut Commitment, we will not achieve the goal of raising enough to cover the full cost of the program over the next four years. Consideration was given to potentially funding the programs through some avenue other than philanthropy. And while that might may have been a viable possibility and another time, it’s not an option in this budget environment."

He said the "difficult" decision was to put the program on hold.

"I believe the program needs to be paused," he said. "We just don’t have the funds. Pausing the program is the most difficult and painful decision I have had to make since arriving here.”

The UConn Board of Trustees members agreed.

"Neither I nor anyone else at UConn wants to make a promise we may not be able to adequately fund as planned," Katsouleas said.

He added about $200 million in student aid remains and vowed to up his personal ante.

"Our neediest students will continue to receive robust aid, as they have been. This includes the students who do or would have benefited from the Connecticut Commitment, which was only one aspect of our much larger financial aid efforts, designed to make a UConn education more affordable for those with economic need," Katsouleas saod That isn’t changing. to ensure foremost that the first cohort is taken care of, I am doubling my personal multi-year pledge to Connecticut Commitment and hope the other 500 donors who gave to the program will consider doing the same and perhaps inspire others to join."