For the seventh straight year, SOWELA tuition and fees will remain steady for the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year to give a break to financially-challenged students from record inflation. All SOWELA students will pay the same tuition and fees as they did in the 2021-2022 school year.
The tuition freeze is part of LCTCS’s focus on tuition affordability, access to academic and workforce training, and workforce development. A unanimous vote at the last LCTCS board meeting sealed the decision. This is the seventh straight year of tuition freezes within the LCTCS system.
“Student access is a major focus at SOWELA, but if cost becomes an obstacle, then students can’t afford to take advantage of the many educational opportunities the College provides,” said SOWELA Chancellor Dr. Neil Aspinwall. “I am very pleased that the LCTCS Board of Supervisors chose to maintain the current tuition rates, which will help strengthen and promote college affordability and access.”
The tuition freeze applies to all SOWELA locations in Lake Charles, Jennings, Oakdale, and the Lamar Salter Campus (pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges) in Leesville, Louisiana.
In addition, SOWELA recently announced an anonymous $200,000 donation that funds student scholarships in 2022 for those who qualify. The “SOWELA Student Success Scholarship” will be awarded based on merit and need to students who have earned a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 from SOWELA, if currently enrolled, or a 2.5 GPA from high school if enrolling at SOWELA for the first time. All new and current SOWELA students are encouraged to complete a scholarship application at www.sowela.edu/scholarships. Financial aid assistance is also available.
Also, beginning next month, eligible SOWELA students can take advantage of Louisiana’s “M.J. Foster Promise Program,” a financial aid award given on a first-come, first-served basis. Students may use funds from the program over a three-year period to cover their tuition and fees. Qualifying students are eligible for a maximum of $3,200 per award year with a lifetime benefit of $6,400. Students must be 21 years or older to qualify.
“SOWELA not only provides state-of-the art technical education, but we are also a comprehensive community college,” said Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid Allison Dering. “Students wanting to pursue a bachelor’s degree can start at SOWELA and take transferable courses at less than half the cost of public Louisiana universities. Our classes provide a small teacher to student ratio, and we have a robust offering of student support services. In addition to the low cost, students who qualify can receive a wide range of financial aid funding, including federal grants, SOWELA scholarships, and the state’s newest program, the M.J. Foster Promise Grant.”
Recently, SOWELA achieved the highest retention rate among community and technical colleges in Louisiana.
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