Setting the Pace in California, Woodbury University Introduces 4X Freshman Guarantee Program

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In an ambitious program aimed at redefining and strengthening its relationship with incoming students, Woodbury University today introduced its new Woodbury Freshman 4X Guarantee Program. The program -- unique in the state of California among colleges and universities, public and private – consists of a series of obligations and deliverables between the university and its newest students.
(http://woodbury.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Quad_Guarantee_R13.pdf).

"Woodbury proudly stands behind the quality of our top-ranked degree programs, which are led by world-class faculty and staff," said David Dauwalder, PhD., Interim President, Woodbury University. "This program demonstrates the commitment our faculty and staff have to student success. We are committed to the development and growth of each student, and we have chosen to back our educational efforts with this promise to the undergraduates who have selected Woodbury as their home for higher learning."

For incoming freshmen, the program provides:

• An annual merit-based scholarship for each full-time Woodbury undergraduate student with a high school cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Woodbury Integrated Student Experience (WISE) tuition scholarship of $2,000 for each full-time student with a Woodbury cumulative GPA of 2.75 or higher.
• Graduation within four years for a full-time Woodbury undergraduate student (or five years for an Architecture undergraduate student).
• Full-time employment or enrollment in graduate school within six months of graduation, or the ability to return for a full year of tuition-free credit hours, including continued engagement in on/off-campus internship opportunities relative to the student's professional area.

Transfer students are eligible for Woodbury's 2X Guarantee Program, which provides merit and WISE scholarship guarantee. International students are eligible for the WISE scholarship guarantee only.

"We believe that the Woodbury Freshman 4X Guarantee Program can be a model for colleges and universities in California and beyond," said Dauwalder. "The question of value and accountability continues to dominate conversations about higher education, wherever they take place – around the family dinner table, in classrooms, at academic conferences, in corporate boardrooms. Our pioneering guarantee is completely mutual – we ask for a commitment from our students and we make a multi-faceted promise of support to them. In essence, we're making a statement about their value to us and our value to them."

"The four-year graduation guarantee is an approach we will see more private colleges take in coming years," said Tony Pals, a spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, told the New York Times in 2011. In that article, The Times cited federal Department of Education figures indicating that some 80 percent of undergraduates earning degrees at private colleges and universities do so within four years; at public institutions, the 50 percent of undergraduates do so.

To be eligible for any of the Woodbury guarantees, students must maintain good academic standing, make satisfactory progress each year, remain in good disciplinary standing, and meet published payment deadlines.

About Woodbury University
Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. It offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and College of Transdisciplinarity, along with a Master of Arts in Media for Social Justice, Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Interior Architecture (MIA), Master of Science in Architecture (MSArch), and Master of Leadership. The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees, as well as an MSArch degree with concentrations in Real Estate Development and Landscape + Urbanism. DesignIntelligence has ranked the Interior Architecture BFA #2 in the West. Woodbury ranks 15th among the nation's "25 Colleges That Add the Most Value," according to Money Magazine.  Visit woodbury.edu for more information.

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SOURCE Woodbury University

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