“I think families are being more cognizant of applying for financial aid to see if there’s some help out there,” said Ron Brown, director of financial aid for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. “Families who in the past didn’t have to rely on loans and were able to get through it, are maybe having to rethink that.”
Because the university is aware students are going to need more assistance as tuition and other costs continue to rise, more funds are being poured into the financial aid office.
“That’s an ongoing effort, that every year we’re going to be putting more funds through the financial aid office,” Brown said. “The university is realizing that we need to put more money through so students can afford to attend.”
Brown said UMHB has historically provided financial aid for 90 percent of its students and plans to keep up the help it provides.
Not only are universities feeling the financial pull of more students requesting help, but two-year institutions such as Temple College also are seeing a rising trend in students who are needing a financial boost.
“As of today, we have 831 more applications from a year ago, and we have awarded 772 more students than we had last year,” said Fred Pena, director of financial aid for TC.
The college receives money to give its students from federal grants such as the federal Pell Grant, the Academic Competitiveness Grant, the federal work/study program and the Stafford student loans.
The amount of the funds provided by just the Pell grants has increased from $4.3 million in the 2006-07 school year to more than $5.5 million in the 2007-08 school year.
But even with all of these avenues of assistance, TC is hoping to offer more.
“We are currently looking into offering direct lending and direct loans through the Department of Education,” Pena said.
Plans for financial help through the school are in response to not only the rise in the requests for funds, but the increasing numbers of those who are enrolling.
“In the last two years, enrollment for Temple College has been up to 13 percent,” Pena said. “So, it’s a trend that we’ve been seeing.”
Even though the process of paying for college is a daunting one for parents and students, the financial aid director said if they start early, then they can be prepared for the task ahead.
“Don’t wait until the month before college starts,” Pena said. “They need to process their FAFSA (Free Application Federal Student Aid) as soon as possible, and have their parents process their income tax returns as soon as possible. It really does affect the way students receive their aid.”
The FAFSA is a way for parents and students to find out if they qualify for funding from the federal government through the Department of Education.
“Many families are surprised at the assistance they receive or that they might qualify to have the interest waived on the loan until six months after the student graduates,” Brown said. “Sometimes people rule themselves out because they say, we make $85,000 a year, so we shouldn’t apply. But if you can get them to apply, they may find out that their student qualifies to borrow $3,500 to $5,500 in an interest-free loan every year.”
The director said to start checking out college costs when the student is in his junior or senior year of high school.
“(Parents) can do an estimator online and they can find out from schools about what they might qualify for in aid,” Brown said. “So, at least the parents can start thinking when they have a year or two to prepare.”
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