Solving the Tuition Puzzle

By Andrew Lochrie

"How am I going to finance this?"

When Jibreel Murray, Class of 2020, received acceptance letters from Temple University, La Salle, St. Joseph's, Cabrini and the University of San Francisco in 2016, that's the question that hit him the hardest. That needling, persistent and unanswered "how?" quickly turned Jibreel's most exciting personal milestone into what he called the most stressful time of his life.

After factoring in government grants, his remaining tuition gap at Temple would have been around $10,000 a year, in contrast to private universities such as La Salle or the University of San Francisco, set at about $28,000 to $35,000 a year.

"For a first-generation college student," Jibreel says, "that cost is daunting."

Of the roughly 30,000 full-time undergraduate students at Temple, 82 percent receive some financial aid. Of those, 56 percent receive need-based loans and 53 percent receive need-based scholarships or grant aid. Even with that help, Jibreel still faced an unresolved annual tuition gap of $5,000 and nearly $12,000 in annual room and board costs.

Fast forward three years and Jibreel's confidence today as a Temple student, majoring in finance at the Fox School of Business, is a stark contrast to the stress he felt in the months before his freshman year. For that, he credits two scholarships.

The first—worth $5,000 a year—came from Robert and Susan Fahey. Robert, KLN '81 and Susan established a scholarship specifically for graduates of Cristo Rey High School in Philadelphia, where Jibreel attended.

"If it weren't for Temple, I wouldn't have the life I've had," Robert Fahey says. "I really appreciate that." While Robert was once a student of limited means himself, he credits a real estate class he took at Temple nearly 40 years ago for setting him on a path to an eventual leadership role in the industry.

Another crucial scholarship, in the amount of $14,565 per year from Temple's General Fund, secured the last piece of Jibreel's financial puzzle. Jibreel and his mom were elated. "Receiving scholarships definitely took a burden off of me and my family," he says. "That has allowed me to focus on being the best possible student I could be, rather than worrying about cost."

A gift to Temple University in your future plans helps students like Jibreel achieve their dreams. To learn more about your options, contact Tom Yates at (215) 926-2545 or tyates@temple.edu.