Hurricane Katrina: ELCA colleges offer tuition for students displaced by Katrina

Four ELCA colleges have announced they will offer free tuition for students displaced from their colleges or universities by Hurricane Katrina: Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C., Dana College, Blair, Neb., and Muhlenberg College, Allenburg, Pa.     
                                            
Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., will waive Fall 2006 tuition for 10 students displaced from their colleges or universities by Hurricane Katrina, according to a Sept. 1 e-mail from Steven C. Bahls in Augustana’s Office of the President. “Students would need to show that they meet the admissions standards of the college,” Bahls said. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact the admissions office at (800) 798-8100 or admissions@augustana.edu.

Lenoir-Rhyne College will provide free tuition, fees, room, and board for the Fall semester or second mini-term to at least 10 college students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Preference will be given to students from North Carolina, or with a family connection to the state. Faculty from closed colleges and universities can also have free housing and meals. “We are taking this opportunity to assist in some small way to alleviate the hardships they are experiencing,” said Lenoir-Rhyne President Wayne Powell. Interested? Contact Rachel Nichols, dean of admissions and financial aid, Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C. 28603; (828) 328-7306; allenr@lrc.edu.

Dana College, Blair, Neb., is offering free tuition for the fall semester for up to five students who were enrolled at a college or university that because of devastation from Hurricane Katrina, may not reopen for the fall semester. "We hope that this small gesture can help in the process of recovery for a few," said President Janet. S. Philipp. Students must meet the requirements for  admission to Dana College. Preference will be given to students who reside in Nebraska or Iowa. For more information, contact Jim Lynes, dean of enrollment management, at (402) 426-7220.

Muhlenberg College, an ELCA institution in Allentown, Pa., is helping to register several Tulane University students from Pennsylvania and New York at Muhlenberg. “At this point, we believe only one student will need housing,” wrote Muhlenburg staff Mike Bruckner in a Sept. 3 e-mail. “It is our intention to provide the classes at no charge, as long as they have already paid tuition to Tulane.” For more information, email Bruckner at: bruckner@muhlenberg.edu.

Additionally, another ELCA institution, Pacific Lutheran University, has offered until Sept. 12 to enroll students who are from colleges impacted by Hurricane Katrina’s devastation for a semester or a year, assist them in attaining financial aid, and collect appropriate tuition.  The university will transfer their tuition to the home college when it reopens. Contact Karl Stumo, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, (253) 535-7151 or Katherine Hansen, Director, News and Information, (253) 535-7427.