How the Imagine America Foundation can support your school's enrollment goals
Your adult and nontraditional prospects are facing a challenge that gets harder to overcome as cost of living continues to increase but minimum wage stagnates: Going back to school is just plain expensive. Their federal FAFSA grants cover part of their tuition, but there's still a significant gap between what the government awards and the total cost of secondary education.
When a student completes the FAFSA, they receive an aid package based on financial need that typically includes a Pell Grant (gift aid) plus federal loan eligibility. But these grants and federal loans don’t often cover the entirety of tuition, not to mention any associated costs.
If, for example, your nursing program costs $15,000 total and a student receives a $5,500 Pell Grant plus $5,500 in federal loans, they still face a $4,000 gap. That's out-of-pocket money they need to find through private loans, personal payment, or payment plans.
And for adult students, many of whom are working full-time, supporting families, or managing other responsibilities, that gap can be the deciding factor between enrollment and abandonment. They may feel like their choices are to take on extra debt, reduce their courseload, work more hours in addition to attending school, or give up the idea of college entirely.
This is where the Imagine America Foundation's ASEP (Adult Student Enrichment Program) scholarships can make a real difference in your enrollment.
Our ASEP award provides $1,000 scholarships specifically for adult students at our partner career colleges. This gap-focused funding is substantial enough to meaningfully impact a student's financial burden, which means they may be more likely to enroll in your program.
In the nursing program example above, a $1,000 scholarship cuts the gap from $4,000 to $3,000, or by 25%. That's enough to lower monthly payment obligations, reduce private loan need, or free up money for living expenses during school. And if you’re a prospect who’s balancing tuition with rent, childcare, transportation, and groceries, it could be enough to confidently enroll in your program without having to make sacrifices.
Partnering with the Imagine America Foundation
If your college or university hasn’t partnered with the Imagine America Foundation yet, we’d strongly encourage you to discuss it with your enrollment and financial aid teams. Imagine all the ways you could use this scholarship to your advantage when talking with adult prospects:
Your admissions team could highlight the scholarship during the application process by calling it out specifically, making the award seem more real: "If you're an adult learner, you may qualify for IAF's ASEP scholarship to help bridge the gap between federal aid and your total program cost."
Your financial aid team could position IAF scholarships as a gap-filling tool. Instead of starting with loan recommendations, they could show students their options: federal loans, payment plans, and this scholarship they may qualify for.
Your student success team could emphasize that IAF awards reduce financial stress, improve academic performance, and increase the likelihood of graduation.
Adult students are increasingly critical to career college enrollment. They show high motivation, better completion rates, and represent your fastest-growing demographic. Every tool reducing their financial stress improves both enrollment and completion.
IAF's ASEP award is a proven way to serve this population and partnering with the Imagine America Foundation is a strategic lever you can pull to up your adult student enrollment and graduation rates.
Your students need this funding. They deserve to know it's available. Ready to talk partnership? Get in touch with us today!
