A new method of incentivizing residents
In the fall semester of 2019, Fresno Pacific’s Housing Department has noticed a significant drop in students living on campus for several reasons. Over three quarters of total students at Fresno Pacific are commuters. Because of that, Fresno Pacific is missing out on a huge revenue source, which is living expenses. What Fresno Pacific has done to try to combat this problem is to offer a $500 scholarship for those looking to live on campus. Offering financial support for certain services can help with achieving higher attendance/outcomes.
Amanda Wall, who is the assistant director of Residence Life at Fresno Pacific, mentioned three key points about the scholarship. First, the $500 scholarship will be applied immediately to anyone who decides to live on campus for the spring semester of 2020. It only applies for Spring 2020, and students that are interested need to speak with Financial Services before December 1st of the fall 2019 semester. The second noteworthy point is that this scholarship applies to any and all campus housing. The third point is that Fresno Pacific knows that the cost of living on campus is pretty high, so they are trying to adjust their housing costs as necessary so hopefully more students can live on campus in the future. There are plans that have yet to be announced.
The scholarship will apply to all current commuters who move into campus for the spring 2020 semester regardless of the type of campus housing chosen.
John Hipskind
The Vice President of Undergraduate Admissions, Jon Endicott, also had some input on these scholarships. He said that current commuters who want to move into campus housing for the spring semester can start the process now by meeting with Student Financial Services and submitting a roommate match form to Student Life. Any students that take advantage of the opportunity will see the scholarship on their student account in the spring. The scholarship will apply to all current commuters who move into campus for the spring 2020 semester regardless of the type of campus housing chosen.
James Hernandez, a Fresno Pacific senior that commutes from off campus, was optimistic about the scholarship idea.
“A $500 scholarship would be a tremendous help to students who want to actually live on campus. Me, living approximately 40 minutes away, would definitely take up the opportunity of getting a scholarship to help me live on campus, which would increase my participation in school activities!”
This financial support may be onto something in terms of getting more on-campus commitment.
“A lot of time is spent driving per week for commuters, so this would help lower costs for many students who wish they could afford on-campus living!” Hernandez said.
Student Life is hopeful that its on-campus living scholarship will attract more students to live on campus. They also have more options if the scholarship does not bring in more students, but they are continuing to work towards achieving a better on-campus living rate in the future.
