One of many ways that ACM colleges collaborate is by administering a tuition exchange program that enables eligible dependents of faculty and staff at participating colleges to attend other ACM colleges at reduced tuition.
Each year, about 45 students are admitted and enroll as first-year students at ACM colleges with 80 percent or more of their tuition covered through the Tuition Remission Exchange Program (TREP).
This popular employee benefit will broaden its reach in fall 2019 when St. Olaf College begins participating in TREP, joining the 12 ACM colleges currently in the program.
“There’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm about joining the ACM tuition exchange program at St. Olaf,” said Carly Eichhorst, Director of Financial Aid at the college and one of the main advocates on campus for the move. “Having multiple tuition exchange programs available for your faculty and staff dependents is a really good thing for employees of the college.”
Adding St. Olaf will benefit employees and dependents at all the participating colleges, Eichhorst noted, by providing more choices for students to find a college that fits their academic interests and strengths.
“The program is managed really well at the ACM level,” she said. “It’s also a unique program in that it shares the costs, and I think it provides a good long-term sustainability of benefits.”
Fifty percent of the tuition remission is provided by the receiving college — that is, the college the student attends — and most or all of the remaining tuition is covered by the home college where the faculty or staff member is employed.
Eligible dependents of faculty and staff at participating ACM colleges receive certification of eligibility for TREP from their home campus, and then apply for admission through the regular process at their choice of colleges in the program. For more information, faculty and staff should contact the TREP coordinator or human resources office on their campus.
Established in 1975, TREP currently includes Beloit College, Coe College, Colorado College, Cornell College, Grinnell College, Knox College, Lake Forest College, Lawrence University, Luther College, Macalester College, Monmouth College, and Ripon College.
Just as collaboration among ACM colleges makes TREP possible, it was assistance from two consortial colleagues — ACM Chief of Staff Betsy Hutula and Sara Beth Holman, Director of Financial Aid at Lawrence University — that smoothed the way for St. Olaf to join the program, according to Eichhorst.
“We were able to make this happen because of the committed partnering with Betsy and Sara Beth, who helped me frame this so people here would consider making the change,” said Eichhorst. “At St. Olaf, we feel deep affinity for the ACM schools. Joining TREP reaffirms something that we already value — our partnership in the ACM.”
