Bill to cut Pell Grants in next school year

At the moment, there is a bill working its way through congress that, if passed, would cut the Pell Grants by $845 dollars as part of the Resolution to cut government spending. I do not think this is a good idea, for three main reasons.

  

1.  Some people in Congress believe that $845 is a fair cut that will be relatively easy for most students to handle. True, for most students. But for those that heavily rely on Pell Grants to pay for a major part of their tuition, this could mean they will be unable to return to school in the coming fall semester. These students, who are already struggling just to make ends meet, will be forced to frantically find some other way to pay those bills previously covered by the Pell Grants or, drop out of school.

   2. In addition to cutting the maximum Pell Grant amount by $845, the bill will also make about 17 million students ineligible to receive the Pell Grant this fall semester. A good portion of college students receive some kind of financial aid, and you can bet that Pell Grants are part of the financial aid, because Pell Grants are commonly known as the “backbone of financial aid in the country.” These students will be forced to look elsewhere for financial aid, probably loans, resulting in a larger debt for students upon graduation. Representative Virginia Foxx from North Carolina states and stresses that Pell Grants were strictly designed to help only the “most needy” and that the program has “gone way beyond its scope.” Has she noticed how expensive college is these days and how bad the economy has been the last decade? I would say that most college students are the “most needy”.

 

3. The timing of this bill is horrible. If the bill passes, it will take effect sometime in the summer. Financial aid packages for the following school year are determined in the spring. Meaning, if the bill is passed, financial aid departments for schools across the country will have redo all the financial aid packages. Plus, those students who had previously thought they had college tuition and bills covered for the next year will be in for a bad surprise, because their financial aid will be cut and they will have to frantically look for other sources of income.

There are many college students hoping, praying, that this bill does not make it through college, myself among them. If you want to read more on this and read the news article where I found the info and stats that are include in this blog, click here.

"Stepping Up For Students"

If you are a student at WVU who is lacking in funds or in need of immediate help, one potential source of aid and hope is the West Virginia University Foundation’s fundraiser “Stepping Up For Students”. This fundraiser raises money and turns it over to the Financial Aid Office at WVU. The Financial Aid Office then hands it out in the form of scholarships, or in the words of the fundraiser’s organizer and leader Greg McCracken, “mini scholarships”. The scholarships are handed out to students who are in need.

The fundraiser was started as a response to the number of students who applied for immediate financial assistance, a number that has continued to rise substantially over the last few years. As the economy took a turn for the worst, students were unable to rely on their family for financial assistance, as parents are being laid off from work. Sometimes a few hundred dollars is all that stands in the way of a student returning to school in the following semester. If a student isn’t able to come up with the money required they are more than likely forced to drop out of school for a semester or a year in order to attempt at saving some money and returning to college. However, a large portion of students who find themselves in this situation never make it back to school. This is probably the worst possible situation a college student can find themselves in. Being forced to drop out to make money, never making it back to school, and then having to pay back students loans already borrowed.

The fundraiser’s main goal is to keep students, who are committed to getting a college degree, in school and helping them remain there. On the fundraiser’s website, there are three videos posted that feature WVU students who were facing the situation described here or similar to it. If you wish to view these videos or possibly learn more about this fundraiser, or even make a donation, you can find the website here.

FAFSA Deadline Approaching

Every student should take advantage of all the help available to them and that includes filling out a FAFSA. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The deadline for West Virginia is March 1^st. Any student wanting money to help pay for college needs to fill out the FAFSA. It’s free and you don’t have to pay back the money. Even if you don’t get a ton of money or even a reasonable amount, every little bit helps. If you need help filling out your FAFSA, West Virginia University holds sessions at the Mountainlair, where they have people help you fill out the FAFSA if needed or simply just advice.  Most of the students who go to these sessions are filling their FAFSAs out for the first time; however there is another reason to go to them. If you watch TV or listen to the radio, this time of year always features a large amount of commercials for tax companies. Most of these companies promise to provide experts that will aid you in achieving your maximum amount of money back in your refunds. Much like these tax experts, the people available at the Mountainlair during these sessions can help make sure you receive every bit of financial help you can get. So even if you have filled out your FAFSAs by yourself in the past, it could prove financially wise to ask for help anyways. You can access the here. Or the web address is http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/#. If you choose not to seek help in filling out your FAFSA, the website itself offers advice and tips as you go through the process and offers assistance and help should you have any questions.

WVU students work to promote financial literacy

Seen in the Daily Athenaeum today, four WVU students are participating in a national campaign (Financially Literate 4 Life) to increase financial literacy among fellow students and the community. One of the students said their target audience is students, although people from the community are also encouraged and welcomed to attend the sessions. There will be several sessions held with intention of educating the community and students on “effective financial strategies” which will include topics such as “budgeting, credit, and applying for loans”. Due to the fact that a lot of people are intimated by financial issues, these sessions will help people tackle that fear and take control of their financial life.

The main reason for students being the target audience is the fact that many students are already in financial problems, meaning debt from college loans. Being students themselves, these four students understand much about the difficulties other students are having, especially since very few people at WVU are doing much to students with their debt problems. It is a hope that with the awareness that these sessions bring, along with the Financial Literacy Week which will be February 28 to March 4, that more people will begin to help students with their financial difficulties, especially student debt.

I think the reason that there isn’t a whole lot of help for students when it comes to financial literacy is the fact that they are in college now. Now that we, students, are in college we’re expected to take care of ourselves and be responsible. Nobody wants to hold our hand through every little step. But we’re not asking for that, in fact, a lot of students aren’t asking at all and that’s a problem. When students don’t seek help when they need to, they can soon find themselves in deeper financial trouble and with more debt than ever before. Students don’t need someone to hold their hand, but helping them become financially literate is something they need, since many of them are only just beginning to take care of themselves financially.

The students will be promoting the campaign in the Mountainlair during Financial Literacy Week, and the next session is set for March 7 at 6pm in Room 103 of Martin Hall.The article can be found at

http://www.thedaonline.com/news/four-students-participate-in-national-campaign-to-be-financially-literate-1.1961903

The Student Loan Blog

While researching student debt online today, I came across a blog called the Student Loan Blog. I found this blog particularly useful, because of all the different topics it covers. Even though it is titled as the Student Loan Blog, it covers other topics like career advice, alternative loans and scholarships other than just federal, as well as student loan debt.

While reading some of the blog posts, I noticed how this blog made aware to the audience that student loans were created and designed to help students in low-income families attend college. It pointed out that student loans have become more of a means generating money, and has gotten away from its original goal, which was and still should be to help students attend college who would otherwise not be able to.

With college costs continually go up, the group of students who require student loans to attend college is growing. In this struggling economy, more people are finding that they are need to attend college to help them find a better job, thus they will almost definitely need to take out student loans to accomplish this goal. Over the course of the last decade, West Virginia University has seen a steady increase in the number of Bachelor degrees awarded, despite the rise in college costs and the fear of student debt.

The blog has many tools to help anyone find the right kind of loan for them. In addition to helping students find loans, the blog also offers advice and tips on how to monitor your loan and minimize how much money you will pay. Overall, the Student Loan Blog is very useful and can answer any questions you might have when it comes to student loans; however it is a little hard to locate the specific information you might be looking for.

Introduction: The College Student Situation

As a college student money is always a concern for me. Being able to provide for myself and pay for the everyday costs of living (a fairly long list) is a constant worry for me as I’m sure it is for many other college students. I have to watch my spending to make sure I don’t run out of money and keep my schedule from being overloaded. I work part-time, so I am forced to balance that with school, finding time for both so I can take care of myself at the present as well as prepare for my future. That future entails any unexpected accidents that I might have to dish out money for (such as a car accident) and my life after college.

Life after college, the next step in life and growing up some might say, has a nice long list concerns waiting for me once I get there. The two most primary of them being finding a job and paying off my college loans. At this moment, the amount of loans for me is just under $10,000 and if I graduate on time, it will be at least $15,000 (give or take a $1000). I’m guessing that a good portion of students at WVU will be in the same boat as me, excluding those with rich parents and full-ride scholarships.

Facing college debt is something many college students have to do. When I was preparing for college, undergraduate debt was almost like a part of life. It was just something I would have to eventually confront if I wanted to go to college. Sometimes I even find myself wondering if going to college is worth the cost, seeing as the cost for tuition for college level education is continually rising across the globe.

With the bad economy, more people are attending college so that they may find better jobs making more money. A good thing, yes? Yes, it is, however that means that a larger number of people are soon going to have college debt, and not everyone is going to be able to find a job, even after going to college. During my Spanish class today, this actually came up in conversation pertaining to law school graduates. Law school graduates are having a hard time finding jobs and law school is very pricy. My Spanish instructor mentioned that a friend of hers attending Law school in Kentucky had to take out a loan for nearly $90,000 (this was for only one year). This included her schooling as well as the cost to support herself. Even though she will get a higher paying job in her field than I will in mine, she will most likely be paying off her loans for a lot longer than I will be.

My primary concern is the negative effects of undergraduate debt that will befall students (myself included) as they graduate.  The best way to prepare for college debt is to start planning and preparing now, or before college, and I hope that in my discussion on this blog I will be able to reveal ways to do just that. The amount of money a college student may owe after college can be staggering and overwhelming, but dealing with it sooner rather than later is probably the best strategy for any college student in this time, otherwise the problem could escape you and it’ll end up haunting you for what could be the rest of your life.