UIW Joins the Coalition for College

Coalition Works to Increase College Access for Under-Represented Students

San Antonio – The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is proud to announce it has joined the Coalition for College, a diverse group of more than 170 public and private colleges and universities across the U.S. working to improve college access for low-income, under-resourced and first-generation students.

According to the Coalition, as a member, UIW meets rigorous eligibility standards in access, affordability and student success, and demonstrates a commitment to supporting all students through the college preparation and application processes.

“UIW is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution and we pride ourselves in our ability to serve a diverse population of students,” says Dr. Brandy Finck, associate vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Experience. “We are excited to join the Coalition as our membership will enable us to continue to build on our efforts in ensuring all students have access to an affordable, quality education.”

“The power of the Coalition is our ability to work across member institutions to improve college access, and that work remains critically important today,” says Stacey Kostell, CEO of the Coalition. “We’re thrilled to count the University of the Incarnate Word as partners in this work and look forward to collaborating on our shared goals to better serve limited-income and under-represented students and help more students achieve their higher education goals.”

The Coalition states that UIW joins at a pivotal time for the organization. This year, the Coalition launched a new way to apply to college, via a partnership with Scoir and Technolutions. Now, on Scoir, students can manage more of their college-planning journey in one place, from discovering schools and building their college list to applying and tracking their application status.

Beyond its shared application for member schools, which features an easy-to-use fee waiver that students can learn about and secure early in their college-planning process, the Coalition also brings its membership together on a range of other college access initiatives.

Members participate in free college-planning workshops for students and their supporters; coordinate visits to schools where 40% or more of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch; share information and advice in articles and videos on the web and social media; and help build a national registry of organizations that provide free college counseling.

Graduating students on time, and with low or no debt, is the basis for membership in the Coalition and a part of the UIW vision statement. All together, Coalition schools outperform the national averages for retention and graduation by 17 percent.

For more information about the Coalition for College, including a complete list of members, visit Coalition for College Success.