Albertus Magnus College Announces “Finish in Four” Commitment
New England’s Most Diverse Catholic College to Financially Support On-Time Degree Completion
New Haven, Conn., April 26, 2023 – As high school students across the country prepare to embark on their college journeys, with the dubbed “May 1 Decision Day” looming, Albertus Magnus College is reinforcing its commitment to the degree completion success of its undergraduate students. The College’s new “Finish in Four” Commitment supports the on-time degree completion plans of its students, offering a financial benefit to those who do so.
“Finish in Four” is the College’s financial commitment to help students stay on track to earn their bachelor’s degrees, in the traditional four-year time period. Beginning with the incoming Albertus Class of 2027 that will start this fall, first-time, first-year Albertus students who progress without interruption straight through to their senior year and are on schedule to graduate that spring, will earn an additional $1925 grant to be used at their discretion. The $1925 value is a testament to the College’s founding year, nearly a century ago, in 1925.
“Understandably so, our nation desires to increase access to higher education for more students, and we share that same conviction at Albertus Magnus College,” said President Dr. Marc M. Camille. “However, what often gets lost is that increasing access is not the end result we all should desire. The end goal is to increase college degree completion, which is the ultimate education and socioeconomic enabler. As New England’s most diverse Catholic college, we proudly educate a student body that mirrors the increasing diversity of our region and nation, with nearly 60% of our student representing minority backgrounds, 50% receiving Federal Pell Grants, and approximately 40% being first generation college-goers. Our expectation at Albertus is that our enrolling students enter with a plan and commitment to not just start but to finish, and we’re willing to reward them financially for doing so via the “Finish in Four” Commitment.”
The “Finish in Four” Commitment represents the latest initiative at Albertus Magnus College in support of preparing its graduates for success upon graduation and over a lifetime. Earlier this spring, the College announced its new Albertus Career eXcelerator Program, providing the College’s full-time students with self-paced, online stackable certifications offered through Coursera and featuring employer-desired skills and credentials taught by industry experts from corporations such as Goodwill, Google, IBM, Intuit, Meta, Salesforce, SAP, and Tally.
The last seven graduating classes at Albertus, six months later, have achieved employment and graduate school success rates of at least 95%, comparing to national benchmark rates of low- to mid-80% ranges. In addition to short-term return on investment (ROI), the long-term value and ROI of an Albertus degree also was affirmed, by Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW), in research that ranks Albertus graduates in the top 10% of nearly 4,500 colleges in assessing career earnings and ROI 30- and 40 years after graduation.
The value of an Albertus Magnus College education continues to be recognized by external rankings such as U.S. News, Money, and Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, and most recently in the New York Times’ Build Your Own College Rankings.
About Albertus Magnus College
About Albertus Magnus College: Albertus Magnus College, founded in 1925, is a coeducational Catholic College in the Dominican tradition. Its values- and liberal arts-based education is recognized by external rankings such as US News & World Report, Money Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, and has been named a Top 10 Military Friendly School. For six consecutive years, graduating classes at Albertus have achieved post-graduate employment and graduate school success at a rate of at least 95%. The College has an enrollment of approximately 1,300 students across its traditional undergraduate program, accelerated adult degree program, and 11 graduate programs. Proud to enroll a student body where more than half of its students come from minority backgrounds and nearly the same percentage of undergraduates receiving Federal Pell Grants and being first generation college goers, Albertus is known for its innovative curricular offerings, recently launching new Bachelor’s degree programs in Game and Computer Arts, General Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies, Project Management, Public Health, Social Media, and Supply Chain Management; among its graduate programs is the State of Connecticut’s only Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling program. Just three years from its historic 100th Anniversary Year, the College is implementing its new strategic plan, Albertus 2025: Lighting the Way to a Second Century, which articulates an inspiring, bold vision, in which Albertus Magnus College "will be a destination liberal arts-based college, distinguished in its interdisciplinary and experiential approach to education, rooted in Dominican values, that prepares students for lifelong civic engagement and success." To learn more, please visit albertus.edu.