OneNOVA Student Success Fund Will Make the Difference for Students in Need
Today’s topic is the OneNOVA Student Success Fund.
In March 2020, in the first weeks of the pandemic, the NOVA Educational Foundation launched a student emergency grant fund to support our Nighthawks in need. Hundreds of students applied for these one-time grants, which were a lifeline for those whose entire lives—including employment–had just been upended.
Later that spring, the U.S. Department of Education launched its Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) grants to colleges and universities, with a requirement that at least half of those funds go directly to students impacted by the pandemic. NOVA made the decision to dedicate the majority of our HEERF dollars to supporting our students. We provided financial support to almost 50,000 at-risk NOVA students, including $90M in emergency grants that helped our Nighthawks navigate a time of great uncertainty and disruption. The grants enabled our students to stay in their NOVA classes and even graduate despite the many unexpected financial and personal challenges caused by the pandemic. The ability of colleges and universities to use their HEERF grants, however, ends in June.
The pandemic gave us a window into the lives of our students, including a deeper understanding of the precariousness of their financial situation. We learned how their dreams of a NOVA degree could be crushed under the weight of a medical bill, a required apartment deposit, a jump in the cost of utilities, a spike in the price of gas, a flat tire or even the price of a uniform. Many of the students who reached out for emergency grants were within their final semester at NOVA—just weeks from graduating—but were considering dropping out because of a lack of a few hundred dollars.
Now that we know how much difference a small grant can make in the lives of our students, we cannot let the end of HEERF grants bring an end to our support of our Nighthawks in need.
This is why the NOVA Educational Foundation is launching the OneNOVA Student Success Fund.
Beginning in fall 2023, a student facing a financial emergency can apply to the fund, administered by our Enrollment Management and Student Success Division, for a one-time grant. The fund will directly pay the emergency bill of qualifying students; that is, it will send payment to the utility company, hospital, tire company, apartment complex, etc. If they have not yet done so, applying students will also be directed to complete a Single Stop screener, so that they can be connected to social service benefits and community partners for assistance; to apply for NOVA scholarships and to complete the FAFSA or VASA.
The OneNOVA Student Success Fund will also provide limited scholarship assistance to qualifying students in their final semester at NOVA who would otherwise be unable to complete their degrees. These students have come so far: we want to help them on the last mile, watch them walk the stage at commencement and celebrate their brighter futures.
As you may have read in Monday’s Daily Flyer, thanks to the amazing generosity of so many at NOVA and in our community, the Foundation has already secured a remarkable $3.675M of the $6.5M that will be needed to endow the OneNOVA Student Success Fund. Getting to that $6.5M is critical because it will guarantee $250,000 in emergency grants for our students each year.
The Foundation is in active fundraising mode for this fund, and my family has committed $5,000 annually to support this important work. If you have connections to individuals, companies and organizations who might support the fund or would like to give, please alert Kelly Persons, executive director of the NOVA Foundation. And, look for the opportunity to support the OneNOVA Student Success Fund on NOVA’s 2nd Annual Day of Giving, April 20.
I extend my deep appreciation to the Foundation Board and NOVA Foundation team for their inspiring commitment to supporting our Nighthawks in need. Our shared dedication to our students’ success is why we’re boldly NOVA!