Up to $5,000 in non-federal college debt relief is available for students who re-enroll

DAYTON, OH, November, 2024 – The Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) and nine College and University partners have completed their second year as a Return2College compact called the BOLD (Be Ohio’s Latest Degree holder) Compact. So far, the BOLD Compact partners have reached out to more than 60K students to encourage them to come back to school to finish their degree.

This fall, we are inviting approximately 35K students to come back to school who stopped out from the compact universities.

The schools that are part of the compact – Clark State College, Central State University, Cincinnati State, Edison State Community College, Sinclair College, Shawnee State University, the University of Dayton, Wittenberg University, and Wright State University – came together in the fall of 2022 to formalize the BOLD Compact with the goal of bringing stopped-out students back to college to finish their degrees.

 Dr Cassie Barlow, SOCHE President

“Research indicates that higher education and degree attainment are becoming increasingly important in the economy of today and tomorrow. The efforts of the BOLD Compact are helping Ohioans complete their degree and position themselves – and our state – for future success.” 

 

For students re-enrolling in college, the compact offers up to $5,000 in non-federal college debt forgiveness. In its first two years, the BOLD Compact has seen hundreds of students completing applications with an interest in returning to school. Of those, approximately 20% enrolled in college and approximately 33% completed the semester. The BOLD Compact has since celebrated many graduates!

The BOLD Compact is a voluntary debt relief program created by the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) and a group of colleges and universities in western and southern Ohio. It is considered a “college comeback” program supported by the Ohio Department of Higher Education and offers a relatively simple formula for student success:

• The colleges contact thousands of students who previously enrolled but never earned a degree;

• The colleges offer to forgive up to $5,000 in debt if the students re-enroll;

• The State of Ohio provides state share of instruction funding for each degree completion; and

• The Ohio Attorney General’s office removes the debt from the collection rolls.

SOCHE is excited about the success of the first year of the BOLD Compact. We look forward to connecting with thousands more students in Ohio to bring them back to our colleges and universities. The BOLD Compact has the potential to make a substantive impact on students who have the desire to come back to school to complete their degree. We want all students to know that we are their partners in completing their education.

To qualify for up to $5,000 in BOLD Compact debt relief, students must have:

1. Previously enrolled at one of the eight institutions without earning a degree;

2. Stopped out of college for two semesters or more; 

3. Some amount of outstanding institutional (not federal) debt up to $5,000; and

4. Earned at least a 2.0 grade point average on their college transcripts.

A full list of eligibility criteria is available at https://www.soche.org/college-students/bold-compact/.

To get started, students should complete the BOLD Compact authorization form at https://tinyurl.com/BOLDCompact. A SOCHE staff member will follow up with additional information and help answer students’ questions.

 

About the BOLD Compact 

The BOLD compact is a voluntary debt relief program created by the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education, a group of colleges and universities in western and southern Ohio. In offering up to $5,000 in debt relief per student, the BOLD compact aims to help students who stopped out at one of seven institutions and ended up with sizeable debt to return to college at any of the eight colleges to earn a degree. The BOLD compact is one of the largest of its kind nationally in the United States. Learn more about the BOLD compact here: https://www.soche.org/college-students/bold-compact/