Miami University will cover full tuition and fees for Ohio students with family incomes of $35,000 or less, David Hodge, the university’s president, announced in his first state of the university speech today. The program, dubbed the “Miami Access Initiative,” will begin with students entering campus in fall 2007 and will cover their tuition costs for up to four years. The plan will be financed, in part, by a $10-million bequest from Lois K. Klawon, a 1939 alumna who died in 2005, leaving half of her estate to Miami to support low-income students.
A small number of public institutions, including the Universities of Minnesota, Virginia, and North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have announced efforts in recent years to expand financial aid available to low-income students. Mr. Hodge estimated 125 to 150 students would initially qualify for Miami’s program.
