Western Undergraduate Exchange:
A Less Expensive Option
By Dave Goldberg, School Guidance Counselor
WUE's Western Reach; or, All Quiet on the Eastern Front
There are many ways to skin a grape.
Or, perhaps a stronger cliché would be, many roads lead to Rome. And by that I mean that your child may eventually select UofA, Pima, NAU or ASU but you need to know you have options that are not too far out financially as to be out of reach.
Before embarking on an explanation of the WICHE/WUE program and run the risk of misinforming you, it might be best to steer you to their webpage for details. This is mind-blowing stuff and it is part of the hidden world of admissions. Here goes:
http://wiche.edu/wue/students
Basically, you may to receive a tuition discount at selected Western universities and colleges that are hoping to fill seats in fall 2014. This is huge chuck of colleges. From the website, this is the pivotal and cautionary point:
"Although some institutions automatically consider applicants from a WICHE state for the WUE rate, most require that you request the special WUE rate at the time of application for admission, or that you apply for the WUE rate through their scholarship or financial aid office.
The WUE reduced tuition rate is not automatically awarded to all eligible candidates.
Many institutions limit the number of new WUE awards each academic year, so apply early!
If you are admitted to a WUE institution at the reduced rate, keep all copies of correspondence confirming your WUE award."
Ah-ha. So the program is indeed hidden away, tucked aside amid the minutia of colleges and universities like a relic in a museum. You have to ask to see it. If anyone has ever been to the Mutter Museum in Philly, you know that the best stuff is deep in the bowels.
http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/
It's $16 for students to get into the Mutter but well worth the visit after you've climbed the steps Rocky Balboa hustled up in Rocky (1976). Anyway, WUE is a great deal and allows entrée into schools you may have counted out. By the way, October 22 is the BIG College fair at the TucsonConvention Center. Get there a tad early to secure free parking. About 6,000 students from Southern Arizona will converge on the Madhouse on Main, so be prepared for crowds.
Prior to going have your child fill out the profile at www.gotocollegefairs.com This will save oodles of time at the fair and impress the reps. Have your child bring the printed bar code for scanning. Big Brother, here we come!
In closing, if WUE doesn't float your boat, both the UofA and ASU have strong, in-house financial aid programs for families earning under a certain amount. ASU has the President Barack Obama Scholars Program for families earning less than $42,400 annually. https://students.asu.edu/obama
UofA's program is called the Arizona Assurance Scholars Program. Their benchmark for your earnings is also $42,400 annually. http://www.assurance.arizona.edu/
Both programs are hugely beneficial. They are in keeping with Arizona' Constitution which stipulates that our state-supported post-secondary options be as close to free as possible. Upper middle classers, you will have to work on those university presidents, since your tuition dollars go to fund the majority of these two redistribution programs.
With the right combination of loans, grants and expected family contribution, the college experience is for everyone, despite what many in education say. Pima CC has embarked on rekindling relationships with students who struggle. They entertained ideas of shunning them but that led to a 12 percent drop in enrollments last year. Thankfully they've righted their course and continue to offer all types of programs for gifted students, students who need remedial classes, ELL students and beyond. Don't count PCC out and certainly apply now.
Keep your chin up, survivors of the Great Recession. You have affordable educational options and many of them are excellent.
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