EDUCATION

Graduate in 3 years and save thousands of dollars

Eric Wildstein
ewildstein@gastongazette.com
Belmont Abbey held its baccalaureate Mass and commencement on May 16, 2015, at Basilica Plazza on the campus of Belmont Abbey College. Belmont Abbey's new Bishop Leo Haid Fellowship program will allow students to graduate with a bachelor's degree in three years and save more than 60 percent on tuition and other costs, compared with other private institutions.
(Mike Hensdill/The Gazette)

Incoming Belmont Abbey College freshmen have an opportunity to graduate early and save on tuition.

The private liberal arts college recently announced its new Bishop Leo Haid Fellowship, a program that allows students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in three years and save more than 60 percent on tuition and other costs, compared with other private institutions. Students in the program take on-campus and online courses.

“No other college offers a program like this,” said Nicole Focareto, executive director of admissions. “We’re looking for the student who is the achiever, who wants to take the initiative, who understands the value of graduating in three years and having that opportunity to continue to grow and excel as a young professional.”

Focareto says Haid Fellows will benefit from graduating early with a head start toward pursuing missionary work, internships, careers or graduate school.

“It allows students to have more possibilities upon graduation,” she said.         

‘That sense of the college feeling’

The Haid Fellowship launches in May. Students will take full course loads for each of eight semesters, including two summers.

The curriculum is 25 percent online and 75 percent on campus.    

Haid Fellows will spend the first summer semester living on campus with their peers. They’ll begin their studies taking on-campus core curriculum courses as they meet each other and faculty and become acclimated to campus life.

 “They’re able to build that camaraderie and have that sense of the college feeling,” said Focareto.

Fellows will spend the following fall and spring semesters taking online courses while living off campus. The curriculum includes courses in history, literature, political philosophy, theology, biology and introduction to psychology. Focareto says there will be online learning communities and office hours with the faculty available to students in the program.

“We truly believe that students entering as a cohort and having that component, along with online, is something that’s appealing to students,” she said.

The college will begin offering online courses for the first time mid-March. The college recently upgraded its Wi-Fi and local computer networks on campus to accommodate the online offerings, which will initially be core curriculum courses. The online courses will be available first to adult students and eventually to all students on campus, according to Focareto.

Fellows return to campus the following summer semester to begin their major studies. They can choose from all 15 majors available to traditional undergraduate students.

Students will take on-campus courses until they graduate. Their only break without classes is during the third summer semester.

Tuition costs ‘unheard of’

The college will charge Haid Fellows reduced tuition and room and board costs during their first four semesters. It rounds out to little more than $5,000 per semester.

“For one semester of college at a private liberal arts institution, that’s almost unheard of,” said Focareto.

Focareto says students can offset remaining tuition costs by earning institutional awards and scholarships for students with high GPAs.

It’s the latest tuition-saving venture launched by the institution in recent years. After cutting tuition costs about 33 percent across the board in 2013, the college later promised to freeze tuition for at least the next several years.

The college’s tuition, at $18,500 per year, makes it one of the least expensive North Carolina private schools of its size.

Belmont Abbey has about 1,700 students.

There is currently no cap to the number of students who will be accepted to the Haid Fellowship program. Focareto says the concept is so new that the school is figuring that out as the program moves forward.

“It’s almost a supply-and-demand situation,” she said, “we are taking it one step at a time, and we are hoping to fill the program for this summer.”

You can reach Eric Wildstein at 704-869-1828 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteEric.

$28,500: The approximate cost of full-time tuition, room and board to attend Belmont Abbey College for two semesters.

$20,341: The cost for tuition, room and board to attend Belmont Abbey College for the first four semesters as a Haid Fellow.

Want to know more?

Visit www.BelmontAbbeyCollege.edu/haidsave for more information about the Bishop Leo Haid Fellowship.

Big savings