UNH announces tuition-free plan for some NH students

DURHAM — The University of New Hampshire on Wednesday announced a new program this fall that guarantees all full-time, first-year New Hampshire students receiving federal Pell grants will pay no tuition to attend the university.

Early estimates show UNH’s Granite Guarantee will help 285 first-year students studying on the Durham and Manchester campuses.

The new program bridges the gap between UNH in-state tuition and the student’s Pell grant, making UNH tuition-free for students who qualify.

“UNH’s Granite Guarantee allows us to remove more of the financial barriers to higher education that many New Hampshire families face,” said UNH President Mark Huddleston. “This new program demonstrates our strong commitment to ensuring a UNH education is affordable and accessible to New Hampshire’s best and brightest.”

First-year New Hampshire students who receive federal Pell grants in their UNH financial aid awards will automatically receive the Granite Guarantee. The commitment remains in place for four years, provided the student is enrolled full-time, remains Pell eligible and makes satisfactory progress toward a degree.

The maximum Pell grant award is $5,920. The new program will fully fill the gap between in-state tuition and the student’s Pell grant award.

The cost of in-state tuition for the 2016-2017 academic year on the Durham campus is $14,410, and $14,070 on the Manchester campus. Tuition rates for 2017-2018 have not yet been set by the Board of Trustees.

Huddleston noted the success of Celebrate 150, UNH’s largest-ever fundraising campaign. He said student support and scholarships are a top priority of the overall $275 million campaign, scheduled to end in 2018. The campaign began in fall 2016.

Other possible targets for money raised in the fundraising campaign include supporting student research opportunities and endowing faculty positions on campus.

“But student scholarships and the affordability of education is the priority,” Huddleston said.

Gov. Chris Sununu’s proposed state budget, released earlier this month, kept the University System of New Hampshire at the same $81 million per year it now receives instead of increases of about $7 million each year that it requested.

Sununu, however, praised the new program as a step in the right direction for affordable higher education.

“UNH’s Granite Guarantee lends opportunities for low-income New Hampshire students to seek higher education and explore workforce pathways that may not have otherwise seemed possible,” Gov. Sununu said. “I applaud the University of New Hampshire for this game-changing opportunity for some of New Hampshire’s most high-need students.”

No separate application is needed for UNH’s Granite Guarantee. Students simply apply for admission to UNH and apply for financial aid through the existing procedures. The admission application deadline for first-year students for this fall is March 1.

The program will not cover room and board fees, which totaled $10,938 per year on the Durham campus in 2016-2017. Manchester is a commuter campus.

While future programs resulting from the fundraising effort remain unclear, Huddleston said addressing the affordability of the university will remain a top concern.

“This kind of program has been a passion of mine throughout my 10 years at UNH,” Huddleston said. “… As a first-generation college student myself, access and affordability of education is a very personal and very important issue for me.”