Local university lowering costs to help struggling families pay for college

HICKORY, N.C. (WBTV) - If you’ve gone out and priced college tuition lately, you know it can be expensive, even out of reach for many families.

Many have had to postpone or cancel their opportunities for higher education. Now, one local university is helping out by slashing the cost to attend by $13,000 per year.

“As a Latina I struggle to move forward with my education,” Andrea Quijas said.

Quijas is a sophomore at Lenoir-Rhyne University, and is a first-generation double-major college student. But her dreams of working with the community here in Hickory may not have happened if the price of her education continued to soar.

“It’s going to make it such an amazing experience that I can have the relief to continue my education,” she said.

The university just recently made the announcement that they’re cutting the cost of tuition.

For those who qualify for PELL grants, other scholarships, and what’s known as the L and R Promise for getting high grades, that $40,000 per year tuition could be knocked down to just $6,000.

“A lot of really good students weren’t even looking at us because they were very price conscious,” Dr. Fred Whitt, the president over the college, said.

He said the rising costs of just about everything were pricing out rising students.

“Given the concern about inflation, student debt, the rising cost of living, we wanted to be sensitive to that particularly since we’re in a position of strength,” Whitt said.

That turned out to be music to the ears of many students, even those not majoring in music.

“My parents were kind of skeptical because the sticker price was so high,” senior Caroline Black said. “So I feel it’s going to be great for the community to see that smaller sticker price.”

Those same words were echoed by Diego Sanjaun, who is a third-year biochemist major.

“Making college affordable is very important to get a diverse group of individuals out there,” he said.

The reduction in tuition will start with the fall semester, and already the university is gearing up for a flood of new applicants.

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