{"id":4294,"date":"2023-01-10T12:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T17:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2025-01-28T09:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:18:15","slug":"golden-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2023\/01\/golden-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"
As the Federal Pell Grant program marks its 50th anniversary, we look at how the grants \u2014 and other critical support \u2014 allow Seton Hall students to succeed.<\/div><\/div>\nBy Katharine Gammon<\/p>\n

Sampson Davis \u201995 grew up in Newark as the fifth of six children, and college wasn\u2019t exactly on his radar. His family life was rough, his living quarters cramped, and although he was a good student, his life revolved around survival \u2014 not long-term planning. \u201cCollege was like dessert,\u201d he says, \u201cHigher education was on the menu, but it wasn\u2019t what I was focused on at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recruiter from Seton Hall came to his high school and spoke about the science and medical academic opportunities there. Something lit up in Davis \u2014 he and two friends, Rameck Hunt \u201995 and George Jenkins \u201995, made a pact to go to college, and all three were accepted to Seton Hall.<\/p>\n

But there was a problem: Davis was the first in his family to pursue higher education, and there wasn\u2019t money for college. Fortunately, he and his friends were all able to get federal Pell Grants along with support from the University to fund their studies.<\/p>\n

Every semester, Davis would work creatively to figure out how to remove the balance on his account so he could register for more classes. He flipped through enormous books of scholarships to find ones that he could apply for \u2014 like a golf caddie scholarship from a local golf course. He\u2019d search high and low for anything that would help him pursue his dreams. \u201cHaving that support was everything because I couldn\u2019t afford it,\u201d he says. \u201cWithout it, I would have never been able to achieve this level of accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seton Hall has historically been committed to being a university of opportunity, and that commitment continues for students, says Dean Majid Whitney. \u201cThese opportunities really change the scope of their lives, and ultimately break the cycle of poverty that plagues so many families and community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its beginnings, the University has welcomed students seeking higher education regardless of their socioeconomic status. Each year, Seton Hall provides more than $150 million in direct financial support from its operating budget, money that is granted in addition to what\u2019s given to students through the Pell Grant program, now in its 50th year.<\/p>\n

The Pell Grant is one of the first forms of financial aid that a student will receive, Whitney says, and plays a crucial role. Students must meet certain financial requirements and complete the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Ninety-eight percent of Seton Hall\u2019s full-time undergraduate students who file the FAFSA application and demonstrate need receive financial assistance from the University\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we do a really good job of ensuring that the students at Seton Hall are completing those applications and are able to benefit from all forms of support,\u201d says Whitney, since additional help is almost always needed.<\/p>\n

He adds that a Pell Grant has a lifespan of about six years or 12 semesters \u2014 encouraging students to finish their studies in a timely fashion. The program has also expanded to cover summer tuition, which has helped students get the classes they need. \u201cEvery dollar matters,\u201d says Whitney. \u201cAnd Seton Hall has just done a really beautiful job of complementing the aid provided by Pell and other forms of scholarships by filling in need-based gaps for students who are financially vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seton Hall\u2019s Catholic roots play into its devotion to helping everyone succeed. Access without support is not opportunity, Whitney says. \u201cI think it\u2019s one thing to open your doors. I think it\u2019s another thing to provide support when someone is through its doors so that they have an opportunity to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that this aligns with Seton Hall\u2019s mission to develop servant leaders in a global society \u2014 and notes that servant leaders are not always going to come from financially privileged backgrounds. \u201cI believe that providing these additional resources to students really casts a much wider net in terms of who we are able to invite to our community to really be a part of the change that we wish to see in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of Seton Hall\u2019s commitment to students of all backgrounds includes helping them flourish. In December 2020, the University Board of Regents unanimously endorsed a strategic plan which calls for a student experience that is \u201cequitable and consistent\u201d and \u201cenhances student support and retention.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Andrieh Darwich \u201919 says the Pell Grant was an opportunity to continue his education with less worry about whether he\u2019d be able to pay for it. \u201cThe grant created a sense of comfort that the school was advocating on my behalf, that I should be able to pursue higher education without fear of financial instability,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He notes that the Pell Grant and other support can be a life-changing experience for students who otherwise might have to choose between continuing their education and affording a car, meal or textbook.<\/p>\n

Darwich is now pursuing a medical degree at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. \u201cSeton Hall has also impacted the way I view the world,\u201d he says, \u201cas it has exposed me to many different ways of thinking, from theological to real life, and has put me in contact with phenomenal advisers, where every conversation, meal and constructive feedback has shaped me today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Federal Pell Grant Program was created by the Higher Education Act of 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson\u2019s plan to improve higher education. Pells were designed specifically to be federally funded grants that did not have to be repaid like student loans. Students may use their grants at any one of approximately 5,400 participating postsecondaryinstitutions. In August, President Joe Biden announced a plan to cancel up to $20,000 of student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients, although a court challenge makes it unclear if the program will go into effect before the next payments are due in January.<\/p>\n

The program has been incredibly successful \u2014 researchers say Pell Grants boost college enrollment, reduce drop-out rates and improve student outcomes. But the money doesn\u2019t go as far these days: in 1975, a Pell covered 79 percent of school costs; today it covers less than 29 percent.<\/p>\n

Each year, Pell Grants help about 5.4 million full-time and part-time college and vocational school students nationally \u2014 paying about $6,495 toward a student\u2019s tuition, fees, room and board. At Seton Hall, 31 percent of undergraduate students \u2014 and 33 percent of new freshmen \u2014 received the grants.<\/p>\n

It may seem like a small amount, but that support can mean the difference between success and dropping out, says Jason Oliveira, who directs Seton Hall\u2019s Educational Opportunity Fund programs. \u201cA lot of people may not see it as life changing because it\u2019s only $6,000 and change, but for a family, your income cannot exceed $36,000. So when the federal government is offering you $6,000, that\u2019s a sixth of your income,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich is a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oliveira says the Educational Opportunity Fund programs, which were created in 1968 to ensure access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, have the highest retention rates and graduation rates on campus. \u201cIt\u2019s because of these opportunities that students are given,\u201d Oliveira says.<\/p>\n

Students who are the first in their families to attend college also face unique challenges. At Seton Hall, the Resilience, Integrity, Scholarship and Excellence (RISE) program helps low-income, first-generation or students with disabilities stay in school and graduate. The program gives students a comprehensive plan that includes academic, professional and social support, including tutoring and coaching, personal financial advising and career counseling and planning.<\/p>\n

Ana Da Silva \u201907 was a first-generation student. Her family moved from Brazil to New Jersey when she was 3, and she was raised by a single mother. \u201cSo times were tough, and college education was always out of reach,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Da Silva was able to secure several scholarships, along with the Pell Grant. She was able to afford all four years, and graduated with less than $20,000 in loans. She majored in criminal justice and has worked for the Jacoby & Meyers law firm for 14 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved Seton Hall because it was such an intimate classroom experience,\u201d she says. \u201cIt gave me the chance to get to know students and teachers. I was never just a number in a class of a hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ricardo Mu\u00f1oz \u201921 says the Pell helped him cover the cost of tuition, which removed a major burden off his shoulders and allowed him to focus more on academics. Mu\u00f1oz studied biology and is now a second-year medical student at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeton Hall had a major impact on my academic journey,\u201d he says. \u201cIt allowed me to meet great faculty and staff who assisted me the whole way. They believed in me and my dream of matriculating into a medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the most impactful moments at Seton Hall were when I would sit down with my advisers to talk about my life and education. They truly cared about my education and my overall health, and it\u2019s something I still carry with me to this day.\u201d Ricardo Mu\u00f1oz<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ricardo Mu\u00f1oz \u201921<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sampson Davis has also carried his Seton Hall education with him. He and the two friends who came to the University with him graduated Seton Hall\u2019s Pre-Medical\/Pre-Dental Plus program, designed to encourage minority students to pursue medical careers. Then the three headed off, still together, to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.<\/p>\n

Davis became an emergency room doctor, Hunt became an internist and Jenkins a dentist. Together, they formed the Three Doctors Foundation, which uses peer and mentor programs to motivate youth to become leaders and succeed in their community. The foundation was engaged on Seton Hall\u2019s campus until the COVID-19 pandemic, holding walkathons to promote healthy activity.<\/p>\n

Davis says opportunities like the Pell Grant produce graduates who give back \u2014 and generate
\na self-reenforcing cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving this huge gamut of people from different walks in different atmospheres of life helps us strengthen our community,\u201d he says. \u201cIt helps us build our community, our neighborhood and it helps to give back in ways that we don\u2019t even realize in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katharine Gammon is a freelance writer based in Santa Monica.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Federal Pell Grant program marks its 50th anniversary, we look at how the grants \u2014 and other critical support \u2014 allow Seton Hall students to succeed.<\/p>\n

Continue ReadingGolden Opportunity<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5402,"featured_media":4331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,259,14,12,8,17,7,6,18],"tags":[322,278,330,125,40],"class_list":["post-4294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-articles-2020-2024","category-campus","category-features","category-leadership","category-scholarship","category-history","category-students","category-university-life","tag-commitment","tag-diversity","tag-inclusion","tag-servant-leadership","tag-service","entry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4294"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4376,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294\/revisions\/4376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}