Allen College Day of Giving

Allen College's You Matter Award

As the higher education sector continues to emerge from disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with students and their families experiencing the negative effects of high inflation, the affordability of attending college continues to be a significant barrier among students.

Allen College's Admissions and Financial Aid teams have worked diligently with our prospective and current students to ensure they know all the resources available when considering how to afford an Allen College education. In some cases, students choose other institutions or leave Allen College after a few semesters solely on a financial basis.

The establishment of the "You Matter Award" allows Allen College to provide immediate financial assistance for tuition/fees to students to reduce some of the financial barriers. The Financial Aid team has complete autonomy to use the fund appropriately. For students who could realize an immediate impact at Allen College, the "You Matter Award" might range anywhere between $500 and $2,000.

"The establishment of the You Matter Award is really exciting for our staff and eventually our students as they'll be able to benefit from it," says Renae Carrillo, Allen College Financial Aid Director. "Often, we meet with students struggling to cover their costs one semester more than other semesters due to required fees and course requirements. It's tough to only be able to offer them additional loan money or sometimes nothing at all and not feel like we can truly help.

"Sometimes it does cause a student to withdraw or choose a different school over Allen College. The creation of the You Matter Award not only gives our staff the option to really provide assistance in those tough situations, but it also shows our students they have our support. Being able to provide this type of help for students really speaks to our caring culture. As the name of the award states, it lets our students know they matter."

Support at every level makes a difference. Are you ready to go #allinforallen?

Call the Allen Foundation at (319) 235-3960 or email Jan Erpelding to learn more.