Grand View University in Des Moines is setting aside some grant money to establish an emergency fund for students. Administrators say the cash could be the difference between staying in school and leaving.
The school on the city’s east side is receiving $210,000 from Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation to establish the fund. Grand View provost Carl Moses says the money is meant for students who are faced with unexpected expenses when they are already struggling to make ends meet.
“So it might be medical costs, it might be traveling home for family emergency, or auto repair," he says. "Cases where they need to choose between paying for that and paying for college.”
Moses says students will not see the money.
“We don’t give the money directly to the students," he says. "So, if it’s a matter of an auto repair, we write a check to the mechanic, and we can do that in less than two days from the time a student first approaches us for assistance.”
Moses estimates as many as 900 Grand View students are living day-to-day and might value the financial help.