$$ FINANCIAL AID:
	U.VA. WILL INCREASE HELP THROUGH INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS 

	The University of Virginia is using three new approaches to
distribute increased financial aid to students in the 1997-98 school
year. 

   $	New Program to Benefit University Students, School Children 

	U.Va. students will tutor area school children in reading
through a new program that will bring an additional $400,000 in
federal work-study funds to the University. U.Va. will have
approximately $1.2 million to distribute to work-study students,
beginning in the fall. 

	Responding to President Clinton's initiative offering
increased funding to programs promoting community service and reading
assistance to schools, U.Va. is launching a program in which
work-study students will become reading tutors to elementary children.
With the influx of U.Va. students, the Reading Buddies program that
provides volunteer reading tutors to first graders in Charlottesville
city schools will be extended to children through the third-grade
level during the school year. The expanded service will be provided
free to children in Charlottesville and Albemarle County elementary
schools.

	About 24 graduate students in U.Va.'s Curry School of
Education are expected to participate in the first phase of the
reading tutorial program, developed in collaboration among University,
city and county school officials.

	U.Va. students will also provide free reading help at the
Curry School's McGuffey Reading Center during the second phase of the
tutorial program. The center, which provides diagnostic and remedial
reading help, has few slots available to non-paying clients during its
eight week summer program. "The center will be able to serve more
needy children without increasing its staff costs by using work-study
students as reading tutors," said Yvonne Hubbard, interim director of
U.Va.'s Office of Financial Aid to Students.

	The increase in federal funds will support about 70 additional
work-study students next year at U.Va., Hubbard estimates. About 35 of
the students will be involved in the reading tutoring program. 

	About 30 higher education institutions nationwide are taking
advantage of President Clinton's initiative to help children with
reading, Hubbard estimates.

   $	Pilot Program Meets Needs of Early-Decision Applicants 

	U.Va. has launched a program that helps students applying for
early decision. U.Va. now estimates financial-aid packages for
early-decision applicants so that those who are given early decision
status know what kind of financial support they can receive.  Before
the pilot program started, those who were offered early admittance had
to commit to the University in December although news of their aid
packages was not available until April. 

	This new approach is particularly meaningful in light of the
substantial increase in the number of high school students applying
for early admittance, Hubbard noted. Reflecting a trend among top
institutions, U.Va. experienced an increase of roughly 6 percent over
the number that applied for early decision last year (2,325
applications this year compared to 2,178 last year).

	"The new program is an effort to ensure equal access and level
the playing field among all applicants -- both early-decision and
regular admission students," Hubbard said.

     $	Changes Help Reduce Families' Debt

	Concerned with the increasing numbers of students and families
nationwide going into heavy debt to pay for higher education, Hubbard
has modernized internal procedures in the financial aid office to make
sure each application is considered carefully -- a significant move
since financial aid officers read approximately 6,000 applications
yearly. 

	U.Va. distributes approximately $3 million in scholarships and
grants annually to about 3,500 undergraduates.  Much of the
scholarship and grant money is income from the University's endowment
of $900 million, the fifth largest endowment among public
universities.

	"We are trying hard to make sure that the neediest students
receive funds. We make every effort to see that students receive
grants and don't have to incur indebtedness through loans," Hubbard
said. 

	For more information on U.Va.'s innovations in distributing
financial aid, contact Yvonne Hubbard at (804) 982-4780 or via
yhs@virginia.edu.

###

February 27, 1997