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NEWS

BY BARBARA COWARD
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT

With the cost of college tuition rapidly rising each year, many students are finding higher education increasingly beyond their reach.

According to the College Board, the average college cost annually for a four-year private institution in 2004-5 was $20,082, up 6 percent from the previous year. The average annual cost for a four-year public institution for the same period was $5,132, up 10.5 percent.

The soaring price is especially hard on families at the lower rungs of society, said an article published in 2003 in the Christian Science Monitor. Many low-income students are simply finding themselves priced out of college.

'This is a potential crisis in the making in terms of having higher education opportunity available to those who need it the most: racial and ethnic minorities and first generation students,' said Travis Reindl who works as the director of state policy at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which represents 425 public four-year institutions.

According to 'Minorities in Higher Education: Twenty-First Annual Status Report (2003-2004),' college enrollment of minorities from 1991 to 2001 rose by 52 percent from nearly 1.5 million students to more than 4.3 million, but only 40 percent of African Americans and 34 percent of Hispanics were attending college, compared to 45 percent of whites.

'These persistent gaps in college participation among whites and minorities tell us that we must be more creative and imaginative in developing strategies and finding additional resources so that more students of color are successful on our campuses,' said ACE Vice President William B. Harvey, who co-authored the report. 'The long-term economic and social well being of this country is connected to closing this gap.'

Thanks to the generosity of United Methodists, more needy students are finding additional resources and gaining access to higher education through a special churchwide offering held the first Sunday in October.

World Communion Sunday, which takes place on Oct. 2 this year, assists racial and ethnic minority people in pursuing various avenues of education and ministry.

It is one of six Special Sunday offerings celebrated in the United Methodist Church throughout the year, providing the opportunity for people to contribute over and above their regular offerings.

More than $1 million was raised for World Communion Sunday in 2004, making it the second largest Special Sunday offering, One Great Hour of Sharing, which takes place the fourth Sunday in Lent, raises the most.

The money from World Communion Sunday supports Ethnic Scholarships for undergraduate students, Crusade Scholarships for international and U.S. racial- and ethnic-minority graduate students, and scholarships for racial- and ethnic-minorities seeking second careers in church-related vocations.

'I always will be grateful to The United Methodist Church,' said Marta da Silva from Angola. 'I?m the only member of my family who has attended college.'

Da Silva, who received a Crusade Scholarship, is profiled on the UMC website as the first Angolan student at Bennett College, a historically black, United Methodist-related school in Greensboro, N.C.

A member of Union Memorial Church in Greensboro, N.C., Da Silva planned to return to Angola to teach English and chemistry after graduation.

Originated in the Presbyterian Church, World Communion Sunday has been celebrated for nearly 70 years.

Members of the Baltimore-Washington Conference raised more than $8,000 for this special offering last year.

Altogether, Special Sunday offerings raise more than $6 million annually.

For more information about United Methodist Special Sundays, including worship resources, visit www.umcgiving.org.