Please note that this transcript was auto-generated. We apologize for any minor errors in spelling or grammar.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: [00:00:00] Started. Welcome everyone. Good morning. My name is Julie Shields and I’m the director of college planning education and training at MEFA. And this is a webinar part of the MEFA Institute this morning on tuition break. Um, a a terrific program. We’re always thinking about affordability and our students, and I know you are too.

And, uh, so I think you’re gonna learn a lot today, um, from Lindsay Parks who is with us. And I’m Lindsay, I’m gonna let you. Tell everyone about yourself and, uh, and about tuition break, but I’ll just say that if you have questions or thoughts while Lindsay is presenting, um, put them in the q and a and then we’ll have plenty of time to answer your questions and have.

Further discussion at the, at the end. So with that, Lindsay, I’m gonna turn it over to you. [00:01:00]

Lyndsay Parks: Absolutely. Thanks Julie. Uh, like she said, my name is Lindsay. I am the senior program manager for Tuition Break. Um, I am a recent transplant to New England. I just moved from Oklahoma, uh, back in the fall. I worked for the State Department of Higher Education there and ran a college and career access program, so I was very excited.

To, uh, turn that knowledge over into tuition break. Um, but I moved for selfish reasons. I, my sister actually lives in the Boston area and I have a very adorable two and a half year old nephew, so that’s why I moved up there to, uh, be closer to them. But I will jump into what we all want to know about today, and that is tuition break.

Um, and yes, please feel free to, uh. You know, ask questions during the q like in the Q and A at any time. And, um, if I don’t see them, Julie will just interrupt me and, um, you know, ask me the question and we will just go from there.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: I will, that’s great. I.

Lyndsay Parks: Yeah, so this [00:02:00] is a tuition break. We’re just gonna kind of run through some, like frequently asked questions.

Um, and then at the end I’m actually planning to run us through our, uh, search program. So we actually have a search on our website where you can look through all the different programs that qualify for tuition break. So I plan to demo that for you guys so you can show your students. So if you are, uh, unfamiliar with tuition break, it is a, uh, tuition program that students can go to out-of-state public colleges within New England and receive a discount on that tuition.

So it’s anywhere between in-state and outta state tuition. We do have a capped rate that, that does have to stay at and we do, um. You know, require universities to stay within that cap and we, you know, we look at that every year. So this is only for public colleges and universities within New England. So a big question that we get is, what about private [00:03:00] colleges and universities?

Um, those do not participate in tuition breaks since this is for, um, this is like a state funded program. So, you know, all of the New England states came together back in the 1950s, um, and made this, made this choice. And so it’s actually state funded, so it’s just for the public institutions. So what is.

The New England Board of Higher Education or also called Nebi. So if you hear me say Nebi throughout this presentation, um, I’m talking about the New England Board of Higher Ed. So we are one of four regional compacts that was, uh, that have been created. So we just do the New England states. Um, but then, you know, we do have our southern, uh, western and then Midwestern, uh, compacts that we work closely with in all.

Four regions have a similar program to tuition break. So, um, that is something that happens all throughout the country, but we, ours are specifically [00:04:00] for New England.

So how are the programs approved for this reduced cost through tuition breaks? So there’s two different ways, and we do an annual review process. So every year through, um, during the summer. We ask all the institutions who participate, um, to review all of the programs that are listed, that are available for tuition break to make sure there hasn’t been any, you know, program changes, name changes, um, you know, maybe they’ve gotten rid of a program or they’ve added new ones.

Um, we continuously do this pro uh, this review every year. So there’s two different ways a institution can participate in tuition break. So the first and. The original is a specialized program. And so what that means is, um, the institutions can offer a specific major at this reduced rate because it is not offered in that student’s home state.

So say [00:05:00] they want to do like a very specific major, but it’s not offered in their state. They could go, you know, to the university in the state next door and receive this discounted tuition rate. The other way is something that we started about five years ago and then we call it, um, a flexible program.

And we’ve actually, uh. Told institutions that they can just say, we wanna offer all of the majors at our university at this discounted tuition rate for New England students. So it does not matter, um, what program that student enrolls in at the university. They can receive the out-of-state tuition, um, discount through tuition break.

So how do I apply for tuition break? Um, there is no separate application for tuition break. I always like to make sure I tell students that, um, when I’m at college Fair. I was just at the Trio Day last week and I always made, just made sure to tell them. There’s no [00:06:00] separate application. All you have to do is submit your admissions application for where you’re planning to attend university or college, and, um, make sure that when you do apply, you tell them that you’re interested in the major or program that is listed.

That’s eligible for tuition break. So, um, when we, when I show you our search tool later, you’ll be able to see how a student could do that. They can go and look, find, um, an eligible program, then they apply to said university with that program. And then the institution does all of the hard legwork for them in the background.

So when they get that first bursar bill that, uh, discounted tuition should already be applied.

So, um, a really great question we get is if tuition break is available for advanced degrees or if it’s only for undergraduate, like bachelor’s degree. And the answer is [00:07:00] that yes. So there’s actually certificate programs or even associate’s degrees. So all of the community colleges, uh, participate in tuition break.

Um, and then. Uh, certificate programs as well. So if you have students who are interested in going that route, um, maybe in a different state, they could receive the tuition break discount there. Um, but there’s also, uh, 650 plus graduate degrees, so this applies to if they wanna do a master’s, a PhD, but it also applies to professional schools, so law school, medical school, dental school, anything along those lines.

Um, so if they decide to go to a public institution. Um, out of their home state, they can also get that tuition break discount there. So it is just essentially all, uh, public institutions, um, pretty much any degree that you can get from a certificate all the way up.

Um, so another question that I’ve been getting a lot from students and families [00:08:00] is how does this stack essentially with scholarships? Um, is it something you know, I have to do with the fafsa? Um, and. A few different ways to look at this is that one, it is just a discount on tuition. So it is not a like tuition waiver.

It’s not a scholarship. So like I was saying, there’s no other application they have to fill out to get tuition break. Um, and since we are kind of just this like big coalition of all of the New England states and then all of the universities within those states, they can kind of set their own parameters.

So I would say most universities will stack their. Like merit scholarships on top of the tuition break discount. Um, but I think there are a few out there that don’t allow that. So I would just say if you have a student who, um, is, you know, really looking at cost, um, really doing that breakdown and they’re worried about if their scholarship will stack on top of the discount, [00:09:00] um.

You can have them email me and I can look into it, or I would always just recommend to have them reach out directly to their admissions counselor at the university they’re interested in, because they’re probably going to know the answer a bit faster than me. Um, since I have to look over all of the universities.

Um, I’m not super, you know, familiar with every single person’s aspect or university’s aspects, but, um, I am happy to figure that out for them. Yes, Julie.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: Yeah. I’ll just ask, there is one question here, so I Sure. I love it with, I know the counselors are trying to do a million things if they have to leave early.

Um, could a Massachusetts student attend law school at Yukon for at an in-state rate? I.

Lyndsay Parks: So it’s not instate, it’s a, um, it’s somewhere between instate and out of state. So we say we cap them at 175%, um, but some institutions go lower, some go all the way to that max cap, but they can’t be higher than [00:10:00] 175%. Um.

Like of the in-state tuition, but yes. So, um, a Massa, Massachusetts students, Yukon Law does participate in, uh, the tuition break program. So yep, they would be able to receive that discount just as long as they have Massachusetts like listed as their home state.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: Thank you.

Lyndsay Parks: Mm-hmm. So here are some scenarios.

So I’m sure since you guys are counselors, you’re probably gonna have students coming in and out of your office, maybe parents emailing, calling you, um, with like specific what if type questions. So hopefully we can run through some of these for you. Um, and that should help you feel comfortable talking about this with your students.

And then if not. You can just send them my way. So I live in blank state and want to go to blank college or university. Um, how do I know if I qualify for tuition break? So just as long as their home residence is one of the six New England states, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, [00:11:00] Rhode Island, or Vermont, um, they look at what school, which institutions.

Participate and then which programs at those institutions. So, uh, they, you know, make sure they’re choosing an eligible program. And then, um, I would always recommend they go ahead and confirm that program with their admissions. I. You know, representative at the university, just make sure that nothing has changed.

Like I said, we do an annual review process, but sometimes institutions make decisions midyear and they don’t update us. Uh, so it’s always important that the student, uh, you know, just confirms all of that information with their, um, with their university of choice. My chosen major isn’t offered in my state and isn’t listed as a tuition break program at the school.

I’m interested in, can I still access the tuition break discount? Uh, unfortunately the answer is no. Uh, the college and universities they [00:12:00] decide. Which programs are offered, um, if they wanna go fully flexible or not. Um, we really are just the administrators of it. Um, you know, we hold the policy, we make sure that they’re, you know, staying within the parameters.

But really we allow the universities and the colleges to make these decisions. Um, and sometimes things change from year to year. So, um, and you know, sometimes they’re like, we’re just gonna add this one new program, we’re gonna take one away. It really just depends on the institution. Um, so in a second, like I said, I’ll show you the search tool.

You can actually, you know, search. Specifically by major, and then you can see all of the institutions that offer that. Um, there’s just different ways to do it. So, and then, um, for example, there are some programs that are just not offered by any New England public institution. Uh, so like professional golf management.

You’re just not gonna find that anywhere. You’re probably going to have to go to a completely different region of the country to get [00:13:00] something along those lines. So. I will say if your student is interested in something and you can’t find it anywhere on that, um, send me an email and I’ll look into it because it could just be that that program’s name changed and, um, we haven’t been notified of that yet.

So I’ll do a little bit of research and figure that out for you. Um, so what happens if I change my tuition break eligible eligible major to a non tuition break eligible major? Um, the students’ next bursar bill will be changed to like the full out of state tuition rate. So they have to make sure that they stay within that major.

For the entire time that they’re, you know, pursuing that degree, um, at the institution. And then, um, kind of the opposite of that, what if I enrolled in a non tuition break major and then I decide to change to one of those majors while I’m at that college? Um, the answer is [00:14:00] usually, you know, like I was saying, the institutions have a lot of free reign to make these kind of internal decisions.

Um, but I will say typically, uh, college will will give that, um. Tuition break discount to the new major. Um, so I would just have them contact, uh, there’s like a few different people on campus that it could be, the registrar is probably a good place to stop. Um, maybe even an academic advisor would know. Um, but if you want, there’s always going to be a contact person listed for every institution on our website.

So you could just go straight to that person if you would like. So how much of a discount is actually tuition break? It truly varies by institution. Like I was saying, you know, they can set their, um. Tuition rates at anything as long as it stays within our max cap. Um, and so as of last year for the 23, 24 year, um, 8,600 is about the average [00:15:00] annual tuition savings per student.

And so this is just looking at tuition. By the way. This is not fees, this is not, um, or extra fees like, um, housing or food or books or anything along those lines like we’re just looking at. Tuition here. Um, and then usually, uh, this little breakdown right here is like, kind of a good example. So in-state tuition is listed at $6,000 for the year, 18,000 for out of state.

And then that institution has put the, uh. Tuition break rate at, uh, ten five. So then their, their annual savings are about 7,500 for the year. Since they wouldn’t be considered a full out-of-state student, they’re a tuition break student. So that’s just an example for you. Um, we actually have a state by state breakdown.

We do an annual, uh, data collection process every year with the institutions that’s separate from the programs and majors. Uh. Collection that we do where we [00:16:00] actually find out exactly, you know, what students are, you know, where they’re coming from, like what their home state was, what program they’ve enrolled in.

Um, and that’s how we actually are able to calculate, uh, these types of numbers for each state. But then New England as a whole. All right. Couple of fast facts for you really quick. So, like I was saying, 8,600 about the average annual savings. Um, as of this moment, there’s about 2,700 eligible majors at this reduced tuition rate.

Uh, 68 participating institutions and then 9,000 students paid reduced tuition, um, in, uh, whoop, that’s supposed to say 2324. Sorry, everyone missed that. Uh, missed that for you there. Um, alright, so here is my contact information. I’m actually gonna switch over to the search tool really quick and then I’ll put this slide back up at the end so you can grab, um, the email address and then the phone [00:17:00] number, uh, for tuition breaks.

So let me switch really fast.

Great. Alright, so I hope everyone can see my screen here. So I am just on the home screen for the New England Board of Higher Education’s website. Um, it is just nebi.org. So if you just Google nebi. You’ll get our website as your first popup. Usually it’s almost always tuition break is the first link because it is what Nebi is typically known for.

Um, and it’s our most popular part of the website because of the search tool. So you’re gonna come over here to tuition break, you’re gonna hover down, and then you’ll wanna click on find a program. And then from here, um, there’s just some, some interesting information, uh, that you might be interested in.

Uh, just different resources over on the side. But we wanna talk about our search tool. So you’re going to click on this [00:18:00] search button right here, and it’s gonna take you to kind of a strange looking, um. Uh, thing here. Um, it’s kind of like an old school, uh, database that we work in. Um, it’s really great though because we can do a lot of customization with it, so that’s why we’ve stuck with it.

But it is actually technically a different URL, so if you are. School is very strict on, um, you know, like internet access or, you know, different websites or like, something along those lines. If you’re having network issues, it won’t let you, uh, connect there. Please let us know. We’re always trying to make sure that this is accessible to everyone.

Um. So a couple of different ways that you and your students can search for the information they’re looking for. With intuition break, we have these three different options. So the first option is you click on the state that you live in, and then you can see, um, the [00:19:00] options for like. All the other five states around them.

So, um, if you go here, you do have to click on these little dropdown arrows. You can’t type the state in. I know. It’s, it’s very frustrating. Um, it has been quite a learning process for me as well. Um, so let’s say that I, uh. I am in Connecticut here. And then you’re gonna, you’re going to click on show Options for State, and then it’s actually gonna do an even more specified breakdown for you.

So if you’re looking for really something specific, you can get really down to the nitty gritty if you’re just looking for like a laundry list of majors available. Um. You can do that here as well. So this first option here, that’s what that would be, that laundry list of majors. So you could go specifically for whichever level of degree program that you’re looking for.

So let’s say [00:20:00] bachelor’s degree. And then an area of study. So you could even just click all, and that way you could just truly say, all my Connecticut students, they could do all of these programs at all of these universities. So I. We do still group them. My general area, just to make the list a bit more, um, easy to navigate.

But yep, you would be able to come through here and search and see exactly where a, like a Connecticut student could go and do that major, um, with a New England and receive the tuition break discount. Um. So one thing that you’ll see here is if you see an F in brackets, that means that that school is fully flexible so they, your student can actually do any major at that university and receive the tuition break discount.

Um, alright, so let’s say we don’t wanna do this option, um, do not click the back [00:21:00] button. It’s gonna take you back to the tuition break homepage. I know. Not super fun. We actually wanna click return to Options for Connecticut residents. It’s gonna take us back to this breakdown here. Um, so like I said, you can go here, um, and look at things like, you could even just see specifically just for.

Um, bachelor’s programs, um, view colleges by degree levels. There’s just a lot of different varying ways that you can break down this information. Um, so I would recommend, you know, just taking like two seconds. I know counselors are incredibly busy. Um, I’ve always worked with high school counselors in all of my jobs.

So I understand, um, that your office is a revolving door and there’s barely any time to, uh, explore things. So if you have a couple seconds, just kind of check this out and get a little bit familiar with it. But if not, um, I’m sure your students are able to figure it out too. All right, so then. [00:22:00] Option B. So I’m back to like the original, uh, search page for this, uh, program here.

You can actually search specifically by institution, so we could go click on this little dropdown arrow. One thing I wanna show you here is that you can’t scroll, so I just tried to scroll. It takes it away. I know it’s, it’s, it’s not very fun. You actually have to click on this little arrow right here for it to go down to the next set of institutions.

So I’m gonna go ahead. Um, it sounded like we had a question about UConn law, so I’m gonna go ahead and just click on that school. So we will go there and see. As you can see, um, it is available for students within tuition breaks, so, um, yeah. That is kind of how that one works. Um, that one’s kind of hard since Right?

Law school’s just one option. Jd Uh, so we can click on a different one here. Let’s say, um, we have students [00:23:00] who are interested in like the main maritime academy. I. Um, so you can see here exactly what would be available for students and where it seems like they offer most of theirs at that flexible option.

Um, or they just really offer it to most of New England. It looks like just this one major is only available for Connecticut students. So that’s kind of what this side of the chart means is if your state is listed here, that means, um, your student would, uh. State is eligible for the, uh, tuition break discount.

Um, and if you don’t see your state listed here, that means someone somewhere decided that there is a comparable program within that state. Uh, so they wouldn’t offer the program. Alright, back to search options. And then this last one down here is just, if you have a student who’s like, I really want to move to X State, like I [00:24:00] just wanna get out of here, wanna go to this state, I’ve always wanted to live there.

You can actually search by that. So let’s say, you know, they really want to move to Maine, um, so you can actually see exactly all the schools. That are available, um, and in the, uh, majors that they offer. So I will say this option gets a little wonky if you scroll down just because there is so much information.

As you can see, we’re working on this on the backend, um, with our database. Uh. You know, company that we work with that helps us kind of, um, navigate these little wonky things that happen. So I’ll say, yes, this is, this is not my favorite search option because of what’s happening, as you can see on the screen.

Um, but you can get this same information, um, through the other two searches if you, if you choose to. So that is our search tool. I, um, I mean as you can see, I’ve got some things bookmarked up here. I have it booked here, [00:25:00] um, just in case I need to get to it really quickly. ’cause I also use it myself, but I will switch.

Um, it looks like, Julie, is there a question?

Julie Shield-Rutyna: We do have a couple of questions, but Yeah. Yeah. So, oh, this was great to see. Mm-hmm. Exactly how to do that. Thanks. Um, one question is, can this only be done before a student applies to a school or can it be done after the acceptance?

Lyndsay Parks: So I, I would say that depends on the institution.

So it really depends on if they are only. How they do admissions, right? So if they only accept so many students for every major, they may be a little strict on that, right? Like they might say, well, we’ve already accepted our, you know, max amount of students for that specific major. Um, so I would just, I would have them reach out to an admissions representative, but I don’t see why that couldn’t be, um, along the lines of I changed my major while I was at the institution.

I really do [00:26:00] think it would depend specifically on. On if, you know, they, if that’s how they do admissions, right? Like we only have so many spots for this major. Um, so yeah, I would just have, I would have them reach out and say, Hey, like, I’ve changed my mind. I wanna do a spec, like a different major and just see what they say.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: That’s great. Yeah. Then can you explain a little bit more about Nebi? Is it a federal agency or a private agency? That’s

Lyndsay Parks: so, it is a, um, nonprofit organization. Um, we always say we’re quasi government because some of our programs are state funded and some are grant funded. So. Uh, tuition break is state funded, right?

So the six governors back in the 1950s came together and made, uh, this decision that they want, um, you know, college access across borders to be a bit easier for their students. And that’s how tuition break was bored. It’s. Technically called the regional student Program. So if you ever see that anywhere, it’s not as flashy and fun as tuition [00:27:00] break.

So, um, but we have several other programs at NEBI that we do. Um, one, we have a prison education. A program where they’re trying to make, um, higher education more accessible within prison. Um, so we have a couple of really great people who work on that. Um, we have another one that’s called State authorized Reciprocity Agreements.

It’s a very, very, um. It’s a lingo and niche specific thing, but it’s for students who do distance education, so online education, um, so that way they’re protected. It’s really just about like student protections, um, that way they don’t get taken advantage by any, um, college or universities that participate in the agreement.

So essentially, uh, the students who, if they decide, you know, they live in a different state, but then they wanna take, um, online, uh, courses through like a New England. College, like they would be protected throughout this, we call it Sarah. Um, so that one is very, [00:28:00] very specific and very niche. Um, but it’s actually a really great program that allows, uh, states and students to be protected there.

Um, and then, you know, we have a transfer initiative program where, um, you know, different. Students, if they’re at like the community college level and they wanna transfer up into like a bachelor’s degree to a, you know, a four year university, we’re helping them make sure that their credits transfer accurately into the program that they’re, um, you know, interested in.

So, um, we have a faculty diversity program that we work with and we also have a faculty diversity fellowship. There’s just a lot of different things, kind of, um, niche projects throughout the higher ed world, but we really are more on the like broad administration scope of it. Um. We don’t do a lot of the day-to-day kind of minuscule stuff, um, because we allow the states to kind of take charge of that within, in their, uh, jurisdiction.

So [00:29:00] we aren’t, we don’t have any federally funded programs at this time. We have in the past. Um, but right now we are just mostly grant funded or state funded, depending on the program.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: Mm-hmm. Thank you. Yeah. Then we have another question. Do you have a flyer showing the savings? That’s the first part of the question.

And the other is, is the tuition break automatic or do you have to apply for it?

Lyndsay Parks: So the tuition break is automatic. Um, if they apply, if your student applies to that major when they, you know, do their application for admission, um, it, it should be automatic. And so if you have a student that, you know, they chose a tuition break major, and then they received their first bill.

And it’s showing full out-of-state rate. Um, that’s something we definitely need to know because like I said, we’re just, we’re the big, the big program administrator. So, you know, things can happen, things can change and we may not get notified about it. Um, but we wanna make sure all of our information is always accurate.

And then we always wanna [00:30:00] make sure that the institutions are doing, um, what they said they would be doing, um, when they decided to participate. And so. Um, we always kind of try to keep an eye on that as well. Or, um, if they do get the bursar bill and maybe the discount wasn’t as big as they were expecting, um, we would like to look at that as well.

But most institutions will put what their tuition break or they, they all call it something different. We’re really try to get them to say tuition break on their websites. But some of them say that regional student program rate, they’ll say, uh, some of ’em even just put Nebi rate. Um, but they all publish that.

On like either their admissions page, their financial age page, somewhere that’s going to be posted, um, on their websites. Um, I don’t know what the other half of that question was. Oh,

Julie Shield-Rutyna: yeah. And it was, and you and I were talking about this recently. Um, so do you have a flyer showing the savings?

Lyndsay Parks: Oh, yes, yes.

I, I will say we are, um, we do have, [00:31:00] we do have some handouts. We’re actually very low at the moment. We’re going to do a reorder. Within the next month. Um, I, I don’t know if there’s actually anything like an actual PDF on our website that you could download. Um, let me just look really fast ’cause I know where it would be.

Um, that’s a great idea. And if we don’t have one, I will, uh. Make one and you guys can download it from Oh, yes, we do. So if you go to, I can just show you really fast, if you don’t mind, Julie.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: No, it’s great.

Lyndsay Parks: Okay. So if you’re back on our nebi website, right. So I’ll just even just go to the homepage so we can follow along.

We’re here nebi.org. We’re gonna go back to tuition break. Um, and I’m actually gonna go down here to resources for school counselors. And then you’re gonna scroll down just a little bit here. It looks like we do have a couple of, um, [00:32:00] downloadable flyers for you. So we’ve got a, like a, a postcard size one and then a full eight by 11, um, that you are able to download.

You could upload that into your online classroom. Um, if you use something along those lines or even just print it out, if you have a bulletin, bulletin board outside of your, uh, your office, that would be great. Um. Yes. And if you have any recommendations on this, uh, please let us know because we’re, we’re going to be ordering new ones soon.

So, um, I am open to suggestions and feedback on how to make that the most accessible and easy for your students to, uh, to use.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: That’s terrific. Mm-hmm. And I will just add, um, I hope. Everyone saw this answer, but if not, someone asked, are these slides going to be available? And they are. So we’ll send you a follow up with the recording.

Yes. And the slides will be attached to that. So you’ll have all of these resources, uh, for yourself or for others who couldn’t join today. [00:33:00] And are there any other questions before we go on with our day?

Lyndsay Parks: Um, let me just put my contact information back up on the screen really quick. That’s great. And then, um.

That way if anyone wants to send me an email or a phone call, they, uh, they can do that. Just grab a screenshot of it really quick or, um. Here we’re, so, like I said, phone number, email. Um, I check all of these daily. So I will say this is an 800 number, so it does ring to a few different people. Um, if you don’t get, like, if no one answers, just leave a message if possible, or send an email as well.

Um, and I’m always happy to follow up. So there was the contact One more time.

Julie Shield-Rutyna: That was great. Yeah. Cool. And we might have one more question. Let’s see. Sure. Yes. And again, I will send out the recording and the slides. Um, I, I used to say tomorrow, but sometimes, [00:34:00] sometimes it’s a couple of days. But you will receive it this week?

Yes. Thank you. Mm-hmm. All right, well thank you. So nice to have all of you here with us this morning. And Lindsay, thank you so much for sharing this information and have a great day. Thanks everyone.

Lyndsay Parks: Bye.