Relief has arrived for students who have struggled with recent rising educational costs.

HOSTS — Helping One Stu- dent to Succeed — is a program specifically aimed to aid students who have been affected by rising education costs.

This past spring, the LMC Foundation Board pledged to raise $20,000 in order to help students, struggling with rising tuition costs. Thanks to the con- tributions and generosity from members of the community, the LMC Foundation Board notonly met their goal, but exceeded it.

“It was the first time they had

ever committed to a campaign this big,” said Scholarship Program Coordinator Claudia Acevedo. “At the star t of the campaign, the LMC Founda- tion Board members were apprehensive about pulling it

of f. Nevertheless, we railed together and we did it!”

The primary goal of the HOSTS program is to help students supplement their college expenses by reducing the financial burden, allowing them to focus on their studies. The LMC Foundation raised $20,000, allowing up to 80 students to receive benefits from the HOSTS program. These benefits provide students a full semester of average tuition costs ($500) to help pay for books, supplies or educational needs.

It is clear students have been affected in one way or another by rising tuition in the midst of today’s uncer tain economic culture, and view the HOSTS program as a positive.

“If they’re going to raise tuition, you’re not going to have too many students going to school,” said student Bryttni Atilano.“If we don’t have pro- grams like this, there are not going to be many students getting an education… [they] won’t be able to achieve as many high paying positions.”

The program should provide a needed “shot in the arm” for students. Approximately 125 students a year have indicated a unmet financial need, and 85 percent at LMC qualify for a form of financial assistance.

Cer tain qualifications must be met to qualify. Students must be continuing at LMC, enrolled in at least six units and have a GPA of at least 2.0. Students must not be eligible for financial aid and also must not have received a scholar- ship during this current term, but must agree to apply for in the future.

Furthermore, students must be referred by faculty, man- agement or staff to participate. A maximum of $500 may be given to each student due to limitations of funds, and the money can only be applied toward the cost of books, supplies or fees. International or transfer students are not eligible, and each student is eligible for the program only once.

According to various ex- cerpts from the ‘Recipient Stories’ section of the HOSTS webpage, the donations and generosity from members of the community have not gone unnoticed by recipients.