Hope College President Matthew A. Scogin and the Hope Forward initiative will take the national stage this spring during the South by Southwest (SXSW) EDU Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas.
Only 180 presentations were chosen out of more than 800 applications for this year’s event, which will run Monday-Thursday, March 7-10. Scogin will present “Hope Forward: College Without Tuition” on the Business and Investment track in the event’s Future20 format on Wednesday, March 9, at 12:30 p.m. CST.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to participate in South by Southwest EDU and share our Hope Forward model and the vision it represents,” Scogin said. “Hope Forward is a bold ambition to fund a Hope College education through giving rather than tuition and student loans. However, the high cost of a college education is a national crisis. We hope to inspire discussion and out-of-the-box thinking about innovative ways to address it.”
Announced in July, Hope Forward is a distinctive model for fully funding tuition through giving so that students can pursue impact instead of incurring debt and needing to chase income. Rather than require students to pay for their own degrees, the approach will ask them to contribute to the college after they graduate to support those who follow.
Scogin will speak for 20 minutes. He will reflect on the broken nature of the current business model of higher education and how Hope Forward emphasizes gift-giving rather than bill-paying; how fully funded tuition addresses social justice, since college equalizes earning potential for students from diverse economic backgrounds; and how the Hope Forward model transforms the college/student relationship, enhancing lifelong learning and connection with graduates.
The college-wide strategy is built on a foundation of three pillars — accessibility, generosity and community — in congruence with Hope’s Christian mission. Reflective of the three pillars, the tuition model uses a “pay-it-forward” approach. Participating students will receive a Hope College education with tuition fully funded by the generous gifts of others, and pay only for room and board. During their four years at Hope, students will explore gratitude, both as a beneficiary of others’ generosity and as generous givers themselves. When, as alumni, they give to Hope after graduation, they will become part of a continuum of generational support for the students of the future.
Hope estimates that its endowment will need to increase by an additional $1.1 billion (from its current level of $308 million) for Hope Forward to support the entire student body of 3,000 students. In the meantime, a gift from an anonymous donor has enabled Hope to enroll an inaugural cohort of 22 students this fall and to support a second cohort starting in the fall of 2022, with funding continuing through graduation for each of the two groups.
The college also held its tuition for 2021-22 at the 2020-21 level for all students. In addition, earlier this month Hope announced the “Anchored Tuition Pledge” through which current students will continue to pay the 2020-21 tuition rate for the duration of their time at the college, and tuition will be held at the starting rate for each incoming class beginning with the fall 2022 semester.
Additional information about Hope Forward is available at hope.edu/forward
SXSW EDU is a component of the South by Southwest family of conferences and festivals. It takes place each March in Austin as a four-day event to advance teaching, learning and innovation in education, and includes a variety of sessions, immersive workshops, interactive learning experiences, mentorship, film screenings, future-focused competitions, an expo, learning opportunities and more. Additional information about this year’s program is available at sxswedu.com