Excelsior Program - Letter from the President

Dear Manhattanville College student and parent;

I wanted to reach out to all of our accepted students personally to reaffirm that the affordability of our education is topmost on our minds here at Manhattanville College. We believe that our mission—to transform each student’s life by tailoring our program as much as possible to individual students’ needs—makes a Manhattanville education a valuable and worthwhile investment in a future career.

Many of you might have heard of the recently introduced New York State Excelsior Program designed to offer New York residents “free tuition,” which still will require students to pay room, board, and fees, at State University of New York and the City College of New York institutions. I would like to draw your attention to a few of the items on the extensive list of fine-print details that are included in the legislative bill such as:

• You must maintain a minimum GPA—or you will lose your grant.
• You must complete 30 credits per year—or you will lose your grant.
• You must live and work in New York State after graduation for as many years as you receive your grant — if not, you’ll be required to repay your grant. Essentially, your grant becomes a loan.

If the funding runs short, first-year students may be denied the free tuition grant altogether leaving it to a state-run lottery to decide who receives the grant, unfortunately forcing many eligible families to be turned away.

Here at Manhattanville, we want you to feel informed and knowledgeable about financing your degree. Ninety-eight percent of our students receive some form of financial aid and the college commits over $36 million in financial aid for our students.

It is also important to note that 93 percent of our graduates are either working, or are enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation. We focus all of our institution’s resources on student success, by providing small classes, access to passionate professors, mentoring, and high-impact learning opportunities needed for career success. Manhattanville graduates are securing positions in almost every professional field in the tri-state area, across the country, and around the world. Our strong alumni network helps to mentor our graduates and provides internship possibilities and career opportunities. It is this type of individualized attention that helps Manhattanville students achieve their personal and professional goals.

In a recent study featured in the New York Times, conducted by the Equal Opportunity Project, Manhattanville College is listed as one of the best colleges in the country when it comes to upward mobility, with 41 percent of students coming from the lowest fifth of household incomes moving up to the top fifth in income ranks. Manhattanville is 62 out of 578 selective private colleges and 193 out of a total of 2,137 colleges and universities, both private and public, included in the study.

The College also does well in median student income at age 34 (another key indicator for success), with alumni earning an average salary of $48,900, good for 116th on the selective private college list. Manhattanville also was rated 161 out of 578 selective private colleges for the likelihood that a student moved up two or more income quintiles after graduation. Read the full review on Manhattanville here and learn more about the study here.

Accordingly it is not surprising that Manhattanville has been named by Fiske Guide in the Top 300 Distinguished Colleges, by Money Magazine in the Top 25 Private Colleges for Merit Aid and featured in The Best 382 Colleges by The Princeton Review 2018.

I believe in a Manhattanville education and the value it provides through a strong liberal arts curriculum that facilitates student development through problem solving, critical thinking skills, engagement in a global community, and most importantly by harnessing marketable skill sets to successfully compete in today’s and tomorrow’s workforce.

Please be assured that all Manhattanville College students and their families have access to first-rate financial counseling and resources. Call us anytime at 914.323.5464, or email admissions@mville.edu, should you have any questions at all or visit our website at www.mville.edu for additional details and FAQ’s on the Excelsior program.

I look forward to welcoming you to campus this fall!

Dr. Michael E. Geisler
President