ALEXANDER BUCKNAM
Assistant News Editor
Headshots via Fredonia.edu.
If you are one of many students who wonder how you will pay for college, secure the classes you need and stay focused on your academic studies, then the Advance Completion Through Engagement (ACE) program is here to help.
ACE is open to first-year college students and transfer students coming from a two-year college with an associate degree or with 60 accepted credits, according to Gregory Swab, SUNY Fredonia’s ACE program advisor.
Fredonia’s ACE program was first introduced during the Spring 2024 semester. The program is run by Swab and Susan McGee, a professor in the English department.
“ACE offers a wide range of benefits such as $150 textbook voucher[s] each semester, monthly FREDFunds [and a] cost of attendance award [of] up to $550 per year,” Swab said.
FREDFunds deposits are $50 a month and can go up to $440 a year, according to Fredonia’s website.
Being a part of ACE also gives you another advisor different from your academic advisor. According to Swab, the purpose of the ACE advisor is to give you additional support if needed, not to replace your academic advisor. Your ACE advisor is also able to provide you with career development preparation.
The ACE program has only been at Fredonia for one full semester, but Swab has still seen a lot of personal improvements in students. He has seen students build friendships, begin to open up more, try new experiences and improve academically.
“We can expect to see a lot more personal growth in the 2024-25 academic year because that will be the first full year [of the program],” Swab said.
If you join ACE, there are a few requirements you have to meet. “You have to attend monthly one-on-one meetings with your ACE advisor, attend at least three workshops of your choice and maintain a 2.0 average,” Swab stated.
If you do not attend your meeting or go to one workshop a month, you may not be able to get your FREDFunds for that month, according to Swab.
Other requirements include completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) yearly, as well as earning 30 credits a year. If 30 credits are not earned or if a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) is not achieved, students must enroll in winter or summer classes to meet these requirements.
Regarding TAP applications, Swab said, “Students have to at least be getting the minimum TAP award.” According to the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) website, the minimum TAP award for the 2024-2025 school year is $1,000.
Additional eligibility requirements, according to the ACE website, are that the student “[must] be an incoming transfer student with an earned associate degree or 60 accepted transfer credits; or be an incoming freshman bringing in less than 18 dual credit hours from their high school.”
In order to be ACE-eligible, students may not “participate in the Educational Opportunity Program, 3-1-3 Early Admit, or majors that require an audition or portfolio review to be accepted,” according to the ACE website.
If students are interested in joining the ACE program, they can either fill out the interest form on the ACE website, email ace@fredonia.edu or email Swab, gswab@fredonia.edu or McGee, susan.mcgee@fredonia.edu.