Our Pay As You Are Able Model (PAYAA)

We Cover 80-100% of Program Costs

With generous support from the Mellon and Hewlett foundations, HuMetricsHSS covers at least 80% of the total cost for every participating team. No applicant will be turned away based on their ability to contribute to the remaining costs. However, HuMetricsHSS is experimenting with an equitable approach to participation costs for VELI through a Pay As You Are Able (PAYAA) model. We ask applicants to consider what they could contribute to offset the costs of their participation so that we can offer more opportunities to others.

What We Cover for All Participants

HuMetricsHSS provides a substantial 80-100% subsidy for every team.

This includes:

Expert facilitation and labor: $14,000
Meeting rooms, A/V, and supplies: $10,000
Additional program costs and support that scale with team size

Every participating team receives substantial support regardless of their institution's contribution level.

What VELI Actually Costs to Run

Without external funding, participation in VELI would cost approximately $9,000 per person, or $36,000-$45,000 per team. These costs include expert facilitation, meeting space and supplies, transportation, lodging, and meals for a five-day intensive leadership institute.

Your Institution’s Commitment

We believe institutions should invest in their own transformation, and we also recognize that fiscal realities vary widely across higher education, especially right now. Under our "Pay As You Are Able" model:

Some institutions contribute the full remaining balance of around $12,000-$15,000 per team. This helps cover:

Round-trip airfare (estimated $700/person)
Five nights of lodging ($350/person per night)
Meals during the institute ($425/person for 5 days)
Ground transportation during the event ($80/person)
Travel day per diem ($85/person for Sunday arrival and Friday departure)

Some institutions contribute a portion (for example, covering airfare and lodging but not meals)

Some institutions contribute $0 (receiving full support from VELI grant funding, but note that all participants are responsible for their own ground transportation to and from their local airport)

Determining Your Contribution

We ask teams to reflect on their institution's financial conditions when determining what they can contribute, considering:

Type of institution (R1, liberal arts college, community college, minority-serving institution, etc.)
Institutional endowment size and accessibility
Availability of professional development resources from all possible sources (department funds, dean's office, provost, grants, etc.)
Historical expenditures on leadership development and professional workshops

PAYAA Examples

Team from a well-endowed research university with professional development funds: Might contribute the full amount or even additional support to help sustain VELI's mission.

Team from a tuition-dependent liberal arts college with limited PD budget: Might contribute $4,500, covering airfare and meals while VELI covers lodging.

Team from a community college with no available PD funding: Might contribute $0, with full support from VELI grant resources.

Our Commitment to You

No team will be turned away based on ability to pay. This policy reflects HuMetricsHSS's guiding values of transparency, reflection, equity, sustainability, and reciprocity. We are committed to making transformative leadership development accessible to institutions across the full spectrum of higher education.

How to PAYAA

Please use the following rubric of financial conditions to reflect on what proportion your institution may be able to contribute.

Type of institution
Institutional endowment
Availability of professional development resources, taking into account all possible sources of travel funding as well as support from provosts, deans, and other administrators
Historical expenditures on leadership, professional development, and developmental workshops (e.g. AAC&U workshops)

This financial policy was written based on the HuMetricsHSS guiding values of transparency, reflection, equity, sustainability, and reciprocity.

Want more information?

Apply Now