WDET News
- WSU Helping Students with Financial Problems
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Dec 3, 2008General
Wayne State University is working to keep students in school.
This week, university President Jay Noren sent an e-mail to students. In it, he spoke about the hard financial times effecting the nation and southeast Michigan. To help retain students for the upcoming winter semester, Wayne State is making a few changes. The university will employ a financial grace period for some students… allowing them to register for class while carrying a balance of $1,500 or less until January 9th. There will also be personal financial counseling and classes available.
Howard Shapiro is Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Programs at Wayne State. He says another part of the assistance is the university’s expansion of its graduate certificate offerings.
“In health care, in technology, in education, in supply chain management; things that are aligned with those priorities that the state is setting that we can package into smaller versions that people can get a certificate quickly and use that hopefully to position them for better jobs.”
Shapiro says this fall’s enrollment dropped about five percent compared to the 2007 numbers. He says a recent survey found finances to be the number one reason why students drop out.