Beginning in the 2014-15 academic year Castleton will be instituting new need-based grants that will help defray costs for qualifying returning students.
Castleton has made it a priority to offer more need-based financial aid to its students, and recently had a proposal accepted by the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees which will positively impact many of its students.
Castleton’s investment in institutional financial aid has more than doubled since 2010. The additional revenue that will be allocated to the new need-based grants in the 2014-2015 academic year will bring the scholarship and grants total to record numbers. This is money that is going directly to Castleton students over and above any federal or state financial aid for which they qualify.
With the institution of the new programs, roughly one-in-four Vermont students currently enrolled will pay less tuition in 2014-15 than they did during the current academic year. The overall cost of attendance, including tuition, room, board, and required fees will see a rise of 3.9 percent for in-state students, while out-of-state students will see a 5.1 percent increase. The increase will be less for Vermont students receiving the new grants, with the average increase netting around three percent. By instituting the new grants in addition to the merit-based scholarship program, Castleton looks to maintain its accessibility to all who wish to attend.
As is the case with all public colleges in states across the U.S., when state appropriations are allocated to budgets, in-state student tuitions are lower than those for out-of-state students. However, all new grants apply to both in-state and out-of-state students.