In midst of budget cuts, Pack Promise might not be able to make promises for next year.

N.C. State’s popular financial aid program is under threat of elimination, according to John Ambrose, dean of Undergraduate Academic Programs.

“There is a very distinct possibility that students being admitted … will be told there is no Pack Promise this [upcoming] year…[but] the decision as to whether to cut Pack Promise or to change the funding for it will come from the financial aid office,” Ambrose said.

Each year, Pack Promise works to provide financial assistance to students whose families have fewer expendable resources, according to Ambrose.

“We bring students in and we look at their families’ income level,” Ambrose said. “A certain number of students receive the Pack Promise support package, which tries to minimize any debt they may have upon graduation.”

The Division of Undergraduate Academic Programs and the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid are teaming up to preserve Pack Promise, but the program’s future is in jeopardy.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen,” Ambrose said.  “But whatever happens, the students who are already here we have a commitment to, and it’s my understanding … that we will honor [those commitments].  So those students’ support packages will continue.”

The program remains up in the air because of the unprecedented budget cuts expected in the next few years.

“The amount of money coming into the University that is available for financial aid is being reduced, both at the federal and the state level. Right now when we put together a package for a Pack Promise student, there’s some federal money and there’s some state money and also work-study money,” Ambrose said. 

Current Pack Promise students praised the program for helping them attend the University.

 ”[Pack Promise] got me into college,” Cameron Dunton, a sophomore in computer engineering, said. “I’m from a little, tiny town… when I got the letter in the mail saying they were going to pay for everything I was incredibly grateful.”

“I wouldn’t have the opportunity to come here without [Pack Promise,]” Dunton said. 

Isaac Choe, a sophomore in computer engineering, also applauded Pack Promise’s benefits.

“I think Pack Promise is a wonderful program…I wouldn’t be in college without it” Choe said.

Choe also said the program is attractive to students who might be considering other colleges.

 ”Pack Promise is what drew me to State,” Choe said. “I was offered money at other schools, but this was the only [university] where I [could] go to school without having to pay almost anything.  With other schools, I would have had to… [pay] substantial amounts.”

Another benefit Pack Promise provides to participants is the ability to focus on their studies without worrying about debt, according to Choe.

 ”I know a lot of friends who aren’t in Pack Promise, and it makes me feel really grateful because a lot of them have full-time jobs.  They’re really struggling because their major is hard enough, but [they also] have to manage their own finances,” Choe said.

If the University decides to do away with Pack Promise, students in need of assistance would still receive financial aid from the University, according to Ambrose.

“If Pack Promise were to disappear, there would still be some amount of financial aid that would go to those students,” Ambrose said. “Would it be less than what they get with Pack Promise? The answer is yes.  But what I don’t know, because we do not [yet] know the numbers, is how much less.”