Page 19 - Work Force October 2023

Important update on our union’s college program
The college program benefit offered by CSEA’s international union, AFSCME, has recently gone through significant changes.
Our union is committed to helping members and their loved ones advance their education.
enrolled in classes in the Spring and/ or Summer semesters in 2023, may be eligible to receive the benefit for one final term, Fall 2023, as long as they were enrolled, registered and assigned classes by Aug. 28, 2023. The college benefit program that is
Two other colleges that also participated in our union’s college program have also made changes. Central State University, which offered a bachelor’s completion program, launched a Union Global program. While not a free program, the new program gives students a chance to complete their college studies through a combination of need-based and merit-based awards to offset out-of-pocket costs.
Paul Quinn College discontinued the benefit and current students may continue at their own cost.
Our union encourages all prospective students to contact local community colleges, where
tuition rates may be lower than
the out-of-state rates charged by the participating colleges. Every community college has financial aid counselors who can assist prospective students in obtaining Pell Grants and other scholarships.
Union Plus has partnered with several colleges to offer reduced cost, online associate and bachelor’s degree programs for eligible union members and their families. One of these partner colleges is the State University of New York’s Empire State University, which is offering a union family tuition rate of $250 per credit hour.
Due to U.S.
Department
of Education
rules
regarding
the Pell
Grant
program, AFSCME revised the college program to become a low-cost model at colleges that participate in the benefit.
Eastern Gateway Community College, one of the colleges that administered the AFSCME free college benefit, is no longer able to offer that program for new students beginning in the Fall semester 2023. Continuing students who were
ending is a last-dollar scholarship after all Pell Grants and/ or federal, state or institutional
!
Important update
aid has been applied.
After Fall semester 2023, the Free College Benefit will officially end and will not be available to anyone.
Effective with the Fall 2023 term, Eastern Gateway Community College is moving to a new, reduced tuition rate of $138 per credit hour for out- of-state students combined with a consolidated course fee of $30 per credit hour.
For more information about the union’s college program, visit afscme.org/college.
To learn more about the revised college benefit, visit unionplus.org/benefits/education/college-program.
October 2023
The Work Force 19