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Bradley University touts full tuition program as federal student aid application woes linger

Dr. Angie Cooksy, Bradley University's vice president for enrollment management, marketing, and communications, speaks about the "Bradley Commitment" full tuition coverage program for qualifying students at the university's Founders Circle on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024.
Tim Shelley
/
WCBU
Dr. Angie Cooksy, Bradley University's vice president for enrollment management, marketing, and communications, speaks about the "Bradley Commitment" full tuition coverage program for qualifying students at the university's Founders Circle on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024.

Bradley University is offering full tuition coverage to certain qualifying students. It's a program the private higher learning institution is calling the "Bradley Commitment."

But vice president for enrollment management, marketing, and communications Angie Cooksy says this is actually something Bradley has done for over a decade.

"It's built into our financial aid model, and again, it's stacked with the external grant eligibility coming from external sources, and then those academic scholarships," she said.

The reason they're rolling it out now is due to the ongoing problems with federal student aid (FAFSA) applications causing lengthy delays and uncertainty across the country.

"The FAFSA has not yet opened for the '25-26 year. It is expected and planned to open sometime in December," Cooksy said. "But by announcing this now, it allows families to know, yes, I have an adjusted gross income under $65,000. Bradley is affordable and available to me."

In addition to the income threshold, students considered must be Illinois residents under age 24 who graduated from an Illinois high school with a 2.8 or higher grade point average. They must enroll full-time as a new first-year student, and be Pell Grant eligible.

Cooksy said a student's continued eligibility for the program will be checked each year they're at Bradley, and automatically reapplied if they do still qualify. She said there's no cap currently under consideration for the number of students the institution is willing to take in under the "Bradley Committment" banner.

Bradley University's fall 2024 enrollment was about 4,800 students. That's about 400 students lighter than last year, and the lowest numbers posted since at least 1990.

Cooksy declined to put a specific number to how many new students Bradley would like to bring in through the program, but said she has high hopes increased visibility for the aid will expand options for this cohort.

"In lieu of saying a number, I would love to see a future where a student, whether they're local to Peoria, or in from Southern Illinois, or from the city of Chicago, or anywhere in between say, 'I believe Bradley is a possibility for me because of this commitment,'" Cooksy said.

Tim is the News Director at WCBU Peoria Public Radio.