Students from low-income families no longer need to worry about how they will pay for a college education at N.C. State.

The University is unrolling a new financial aid commitment, dubbed Pack Promise, to meet 100 percent of the financial need of students whose family income is 150 percent of the federal poverty level and below.

Beginning in the 2006-2007 academic year, the University will automatically provide aid packages to incoming freshmen who meet the financial criteria based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. About 300 to 400 students per year are likely to qualify, according to Julie Mallette, associate vice provost and director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

“The average cost of attending N.C. State is over $14,000 per year,” she said. “It would be easy for people to look at that price tag and decide not to even try to go to college. We want to make sure students aren’t dissuaded from making the effort to come here because of financial hardship.”

The University is not, however, promising a debt-free education. The financial aid provided under the Pack Promise will include federal loans in addition to grants, scholarships and work-study.

“We are committed to keeping the debt at a minimum,” Mallette said. “We can’t provide a free education, but freshmen who enter under the Pack Promise in 2006 will graduate with a debt of no more than $10,000, which is less than average for graduating seniors.”

Seniors who graduated in fall 2004 and spring 2005 semesters had an average debt of $14,722.

The University currently meets 88 percent of financial need for students from families at or below 150 percent of poverty level.

The increased budget for Pack Promise-related financial aid is expected to come from a pending 5 percent tuition hike and from an increased availability of work study funds to students from low-income families — even if that means decreasing their availability to other students, Provost Larry Nielsen said.

Student Senate President Forrest Hinton said he was apprehensive about such shifts in financial aid distribution.

“Any time we can find a way to help people pay for college, it’s a good thing,” he said. “But in a way the Pack Promise is just redistributing wealth. I’m worried that middle class students are going to get drained, so I hope the University can find a way to fund the Pack Promise that doesn’t include students paying higher tuition.”

Brigid Hast, a junior in biochemistry, expressed similar concerns.

“[Pack Promise] is over-ambitious and really has the potential to screw over a lot of deserving people,” she said. “There are so many subsets of people whose families aren’t that close to the poverty level but who need financial assistance just as much.”

The University actually wants Pack Promise to raise awareness of its commitment to financial aid for all students, according to Katie Perry, senior vice provost for academic affairs.

“I hope it would say to other students that even if they don’t meet the requirements for this guaranteed financial aid, they can still come to us and get help,” she said.

The administration is focusing on financial aid for students from low-income families, but financial hardship may not have prevented them from coming in the first place.

According to Nielsen, all students at or below 150 percent of poverty level whose college applications were accepted attended the University, despite its inability to fully meet their financial need.

“A lot of other major universities have done something like this, and we wanted to do it too,” Nielsen said. “With increased discussion of affordability and access to education, Chancellor Oblinger said we should really get cranking on this.”

Nielsen hopes that Pack Promise will also attract increased contributions from private donors. If funds are available, the financial need requirement may ease up to 220 percent of poverty level for the 2007-2008 academic year.

“We’re really pleased that we’re able to do this,” Nielsen said. “When we’re raising tuition, it looks like we’re insensitive to students’ needs, but really we’re not. This is an example of something we’re doing to make sure that coming to school here is not conditional on having money.”