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news
Future of financial
aid unclear for some
By Jamie Rogers
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
Students in the
United States struggle through their four years of high school
fueled by the knowledge that their future income levels have
the potential to raise exponentially if they earn a college
degree.
Today, more students
than ever graduate from high school well prepared to attend
a college or university. The question facing the U.S. now
is how to finance their education.
By 2015, college
enrollment of students ages 18 to 24 is expected to rise by
1.6 million, according to a report issued by the congressionally
approved Advisory Committee on Financial Assistance. It is
expected that a great number of those students will come from
low-income families, due to an increased effort in public
schools to implement programs that prepare all students for
college, regardless of their financial status.
"[The] rapidly
expanding pool of needy students has already begun to strain
current federal, state and institutional financial aid programs
and threatens to precipitate an access crises for this new
generation of college students," the committee wrote
in their report "Access Denied," released in February
2001.
According to the
report, of those students who are academically prepared to
enter college, low-income students attend at half the rate
of higher-income students. Those who do attend have a lower
graduation rate.
Students who attend
and complete college raise their personal potential income
level to 75 percent more than those who only obtain a high
school diploma. They also have the potential to add $250 billion
to the gross domestic product and $85 billion in tax revenue,
according to the committee's report. The report suggested
that it is imperative to find ways to increase the financial
feasibility for low-income students to attend college.
Another concern
the committee reported on is the growing amount of minority
students who are attending college. The committee expects
that in the near future 80 percent of students attending college
will be non-white, 45 percent of which come from low-income
families.
In the 2000-01
school year, $20,531,376 was granted to CSULB students in
federal and $15,088,105 in state aid. However, many students
are already feeling the financial aid crunch.
"We have a
large low income, or high need, student population,"
said Dean Kulju, director of financial aid at CSULB. "What
we do with financial aid is we have to establish a budget.
Then based on the financial aid application we get the information
that comes up with the family contribution. If the contribution
is less than the budget, that gives the student financial
need. Then we try to package different types of federal and
state aid."
According to Kulju,
most students at CSULB will qualify for some type of aid,
such as grants, loans or work-study. Many students also have
to supplement that aid with on or off campus jobs.
A 1999 survey conducted
by CSULB Institutional Research found that 39.9 percent of
students questioned are paying for college with part time
jobs, 26.1 percent with full time jobs, 28.3 percent with
student loans, 27.7 percent with grants and 10 percent with
scholarships.
Regardless of the
aid available, the institutional research survey found that
46.4 percent of students questioned are somewhat concerned
they will not have enough funds to continue their education
and 20.1 percent are very concerned. This may be a result
of the rising cost of housing in the area, the low availability
of campus housing and the lower loan amounts that are available
to freshmen and sophomore students.
"At the freshman
and sophomore levels the loans are limited," Kulju said.
"For a freshman, the maximum they can get from the Stafford
loan is $2,625. For a sophomore, they get $3,500. For a senior
it is up to $5,500."
Lawmakers have
been searching for solutions to the financial aid problem
over the last few years. One solution was the invention of
tax credits, such as the Hope Scholarship. Unfortunately,
the tax credits tend to provide relief only for middle and
an upper-income family because it applies only to loans, not
grants.
The general problem
lies in the amount of money that is made available to the
federal financial aid budget. The amount budgeted for financial
aid this year is approximate $43 million according to Jane
Glickman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education.
The federal Pell Grant, which is a completely need based loan,
can give a student a maximum of $3,750 this school year, although
it is appropriated at more than $4,000 by congress. Next year,
the proposed budget will be approximate $49.4 billion
According to Glickman,
lack of aid should not be a barrier to college attendance
in the future.
"Financial
aid is available to anybody who qualifies," Glickman
said. "Our goal is to get the greatest amount of aid
to the students who need it most so they may attain their
educational dreams."
CSULB had to budget
enough money to aid the 29,232 students who are expected to
attend this fall.
"We do a good
job at getting the funds to the students, but we are not able
to fund all eligible students." Kulju said. "With
state university grants we get $9 million, but for students
who meet the eligibility requirements we could probably spend
double that. The need and the eligibility is far greater than
what we are able to reward. The nice thing about the federal
Pell Grant is it is an entitlement. If the student is eligible,
they get the reward."
Kulju is confident
that the right students are receiving the aid necessary to
attend college and will continue to provided enough money
is available.
"Just about
anyone who works in financial aid will tell you is the priority
is funding the lowest income, highest need students. That
is just one of the guiding principles. It is just a matter
of getting someone to give us the money to allow us to that."
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