State System grants to help financially struggling students

From staff reports

Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, working with the State System Foundation, has announced an initiative to help prevent dropout among at-risk students.

The Keystone Extraordinary Emergency Program (KEEP) will provide immediate grants to financially struggling students who are considering dropping out, according to a Clarion University news release.

The student success program will be available as a pilot this fall to students at Clarion, California, and Edinboro universities, with the expectation of refining and scaling the program to the rest of the State System at a later date, the release said.

“A key to the success of public higher education is ensuring students who start on a path toward a degree can have the support they need to finish their journey,” PASSHE Chancellor Dan Greenstein said. “Too many of our students cannot finish because they face costs, often unexpectedly and beyond their control.”

KEEP will be overseen by the State System Foundation, which worked to secure startup funding for the new program from an anonymous private foundation in Pennsylvania, according to the release.

A majority of the funding during the next two years will go directly to students for emergency aid, with some going to support the necessary infrastructure development to manage the program and ensure the quick distribution of funds, the release said. The State System Foundation plans to secure additional grants to continue the program and expand it across the entire system.

“Our System Redesign efforts focus on programs and initiatives that support student success, and KEEP will further those efforts so students can continue to enroll at the university of their choice,” said Cynthia Shapira, chair of PASSHE’s Board of Governors. “No student should have to stop pursuing their degree because of unexpected bills or other financial challenges.”

More information about how students can access KEEP will be available at a later date, the release said.