Newman University Joins SAGE Tuition Rewards® Enrollment Consortium

PHILADELPHIA - Feb. 8, 2016 - PRLog -- Newman University, nationally ranked for its nursing programs, has become the fourth Kansas member of the SAGE Scholars Private College & University Enrollment Consortium. 83 Catholic colleges now participate in Tuition Rewards®.

Located in Wichita, Newman serves 2,250 undergraduate and graduate students. Newman’s Registered Nurse and Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs rank among the top 15 in the nation. Students praise the university’s small class sizes, personal attention and the strong, professional relationships with faculty members. Newman offers more than 70 areas of study, including Biology, Business Administration, Education and Theology.

Newman students enjoy a robust campus life, including music and theatre performances, sporting events, a dedicated campus ministry, community services opportunities and more than 30 different social and academic clubs. Newman is Kansas’ only private NCAA Division II school; its student-athletes have the best GPAs in the Heartland Conference.

In certification exams, NU graduates have attained the highest pass rate of all 34 nursing programs in the state. Founded in 1933, the University is named for John Henry Cardinal Newman.

Bethany College, Benedictine College and Southwestern College are the other participating private colleges in Kansas.

The Tuition Rewards program strongly encourages families to save for college – and attend a private college. Financial organizations (529 Plans, banks, credit unions, employers, insurance firms, mutual funds, etc.) use the program as a value-added benefit, enabling clients and employees to earn rewards points that students can redeem for guaranteed minimum scholarships – tuition discounts – at any member college in the consortium. Rewards points are similar to frequent flyer miles and are submitted at time of application.  (1 point = $1.00)

Participation in Tuition Rewards is free to colleges and to families. The 350 member colleges benefit by free marketing access to participating students (once they reach 9^th grade). Colleges find the demographics attractive – families who have expressed interest in private higher education. Students typically are well-qualified academically and financially.

SAGE strongly promotes its member colleges – and the benefits of private higher education – to participating families. 57,250 new students were enrolled in the SAGE program in 2015. SAGE high school seniors submitted Tuition Rewards® points valued at $57.2 million to consortium colleges in 2015, a 30% increase. Drexel University was the leading destination, receiving 216 rewards statements, correlated with applications, followed by Duquesne (162).

Colleges popular with SAGE seniors in 2015 included Arcadia University, Bradley University, DePaul University, La Salle University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, Robert Morris University (PA), Susquehanna University, University of Dayton, University of San Diego, University of Tampa, Valparaiso University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Member colleges absorb the scholarships, which are "capped" at one full year’s tuition (spread evenly over four years) and can be included with other aid, as a marketing cost to effectively reach out to a wider audience than an individual college could on its own.

For the full list of participating colleges, visit www.tuitionrewards.com.