By Rachel Sawicki

DOVER — University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis was grilled by members of the Joint Finance Committee Thursday about student demographic diversity, tuition rates, and the distribution of COVID-19 funds .

State Rep. Kim Williams, D-Newport, noted conflicting numbers she had seen from various sources on enrollment statistics among Black and Brown students, and  added the number of in-state students enrolled had slightly decreased. 

“I’m more than happy to provide the data and full transparency, I can give you the numbers right now in terms of underrepresented minorities, because that’s something we track and is extremely important to me,” Dr. Assanis said. “It might be on some dashboard that’s not updated. Please take my word for it, those numbers have increased dramatically.”

According to a UD Facts and Figures report, the percentage of domestic, underrepresented minority students has increased from 16 percent of the total student body in 2017 to 18.2 percent of the total student body in 2021. The total number of domestic underrepresented minority students was 2,777 in 2017 and increased to a total of 3,133 in 2021, which shows just under a 12 percent increase. The diversity of Delawarean students has seen a larger increase than the overall population, increasing by 22 percent from 2017 to 2021 (1,368 to 1,671.) Underrepresented minority students from Delaware now make up 25.6 of the in-state population, up from 20.9 percent in 2017. Among Newark campus undergraduates,  the percentage of in-state students has remained mostly stagnant, standing at 36.2 percent in 2017, dipping as low as 35.9 percent in 2018, and totals 36.4 percent in 2021. 

Dr. Assanis also had to address inquiries about recent incidents of violence against women on campus. He lists steps such as a “teaching and listening session” where faculty from the Center for Prevention of Violence Against Women and “hundreds of students” participated in breakout discussions, a candlelight vigil and a police ride-safety program. He also noted outreach through the Biden Institute, the Center for the Study for Gender Based Violence, and “enhanced diologue with our students.”

At Thursday’s session, Dr. Assanis’ first request was an additional $3,466,000 for the First State Promise scholarships, as opposed to the $1,262,900 proposed by Gov. Carney.

“Among families earning less than $75,000 a year, many students qualify for the federal Pell Grant, which go to the neediest students,” he said. “Those grants cover about 16 percent of the cost of education for those low-income Delawareans. The state provides additional resources to cover about 24 percent, UD covers another 43 percent, but that still leaves us with 17 percent, or about $5,400 for each student, each year. That’s a lot of money for families in this situation.”

Dr. Assanis said that should they receive the full $4.7 million for the program, every Pell student’s financial obligation would be reduced to nothing, except for housing. Those students would still have to fit the bill for room and board costs — only the lowest income families, between $35,000-$40,000 median income, would get that fully covered too.

“Right now we know that we have 1,600 Delaware students who are Pell Grant-eligible and would likely qualify,” UD Provost Robin Morgan said. “We think there’s another 1,000 out there who might not actually qualify for Pell Grants but have need. We look at what that family contribution could be, and try very hard to meet those needs. And so you can imagine how heartbreaking it is when there’s a student who is just a couple thousand short, and that couple of thousand is what’s keeping them from being there.”

There is a 73.6 percent six-year graduation rate among Pell Grant students, which Dr. Assanis said it is not as good as he would like. The overall graduation rate for the entire student body is 83.6%, far above the national average of 60.4 percent for four-year institutions.

Dr. Assanis said the First State Promise scholarships are just that: a promise. But it is also a risk.

“Frankly, the risk we are taking I think is a good risk to take,” he said. “We will be able to bring the university one thousand more Delawareans with these resources and serve underserved people. And if it ended up being 1,100, that’s a wonderful problem to have.”

Dr. Assanis said the current 2021-2022 academic year is the first year the university increased tuition since 2019. The increase was 2%, equivalent to $250 per year for in-state students and $680 for out-of-state students.

The next request was for additional funding for the Associate in Arts program expansion, which would support new AAP space and programs in Wilmington, plus upgrades to programs in Dover and Georgetown. The request for an additional $1.4 million, not originally included in the governor’s budget proposal, would cover AAP students’ junior year, since Dr. Assanis said that many good students now take up to 10 semesters.

UD also made several COVID-19-related requests. The school said they are expecting learning loss, so additional tutoring counselors, career advisers and other support for recent high school graduates would total an additional $3.4 million, which Dr. Assanis said will hopefully not be a recurring cost.

The university received $1.8 million in federal COVID-19 relief in 2021, which was distributed proportionately among employees. Employees earning less than $35,000 received a $1,000 bonus and employees making between $35,000 and $75,000 received a $500 bonus.

To support the health care professionals program and increase the amount of graduates who can mend the nursing shortage, another $7.3 million was requested.

House Bill 178, signed by Gov. John Carney in 2021, codified the year-long teacher residency program and established guidelines for how and when the funds will be awarded and what they may be used for. Dr. Assanis requested another $1.5 million to support the educators program and graduate an additional 100 students to address the teacher shortage.

Dr. Assanis said in addition to expanding teacher residency, the funding would help to create a program to certify middle-grade teachers and prepare and certify more special education, English learner and early childhood teachers. It would also create a Delaware Teaching Fellows Program to recruit new Delaware students, provide financial support and forgive their loans if they teach in high-needs Delaware schools.

This story has been updated to reflect more recent data on student enrollment statistics.