The promise of a tuition-free private education. It’s not too good to be true.
That’s what North Central College wants prospective students to know with its “Cardinal Pledge” program, an initiative designed to make the Naperville campus accessible to more Illinois students and families.
Through Cardinal Pledge, eligible students can have 100% of their tuition and standard fees covered. Launched last year, the program is made possible through a combination of federal, state and institutional aid.
Now, as Cardinal Pledge heads into its second year, North Central is doubling down on efforts to promote its impact so more prospective recipients can take advantage of the opportunity, college officials say.
“It’s about access, right?” said Aggie Hanni, North Central’s vice president for enrollment management and marketing. “We have these students that want to go to college. (But) they self-select out from the process sometimes because they think that — especially for private institutions — that the price tag is just overwhelming to think about.”
Cost is among the primary concerns deterring U.S. adults from pursuing and obtaining a college degree, according to a May report from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation.
North Central wants all students to feel like they can apply to and enroll in what it has to offer regardles of costs, Hanni said. That mission is what “really drove us to develop Cardinal Pledge,” she said.
It’s available to both resident and commuter students who meet certain eligibility requirements.
To qualify, recipients must be admitted as a first-year student to NCC. Additionally, they must qualify for the Federal Pell Grant and the state’s Monetary Award Program. Both Pell and MAP grants are awarded to students who demonstrate financial need and, unlike loans, do not need to be repaid.
Other requirements stipulate that students must be: U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens; Illinois residents who attended and graduated from an Illinois high school; and enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program for at least 12 credit hours during their fall or spring semesters.
Prospective students interested in Cardinal Pledge can apply to North Central and inquire about their eligibility for the program anytime between now and the beginning of the 2025 fall term, Hanni said. However, she advised “the sooner the better” to ensure availability of aid, especially state funding.
To that end, Hanni said North Central doesn’t necessarily have a firm cap on the number of students it strives to support through Cardinal Pledge but that the program depends on available funding.
Asked if North Central has long-term aspirations for Cardinal Pledge’s reach, Hanni said, “It’s really difficult to kind of plan long-term beyond what we’ve already committed to (but) certainly we would like to include more students that could meet those requirements … or even (see) an expansion of this program.
“It’s something that we are constantly evaluating,” she said. “Are we removing barriers? Are we increasing access for everyone? So it’s a constant. But we just don’t know what that’s going to look like long-term other than just our standing commitment to evaluate it in real-time.”
More information about North Central’s Cardinal Pledge initiative can be found at https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/cardinal-pledge.
