Giving Compass' Take:

• At the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, micro-grants are helping college students complete degree programs by loaning money for tuition, room and board, and other expenses. 

• At UNC Charlotte, it is reported that about 640 students drop out each semester. Does this mirror trends across the nation in higher education? Can other programs besides micro-grants help these students graduate?

• Read about the creative programs helping to increase college completion. 

Every semester, thousands of students drop out of college because they are a few hundred dollars short of being able to pay their bills.  Many are only a few credits shy of graduation. Most are already working one or more jobs to keep up with their college costs. At many colleges, students cannot register for the next semester if they owe money – and not just for tuition, but for lab fees, parking or library fines and room and board expenses.

At the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, administrators fretted about seeing so many people drop out when they were nearing completion of a degree. The associate provost, Tina McEntire, said the university loses about 640 students each semester —and that 70 percent of them said they left because of financial problems.

So administrators began offering completion grants — usually around $1,000 — to help many of these students over the finish line. They’re called Gold Rush grants.

Heather Oakes, a single mother of three daughters, was one. To support her family, she said, “I took out every bit of student loan they’d allow me, and I went back to school.”

Read the full article about micro-grants for college students by Emrys Eller at The Hechinger Report