A few days ago I got a letter in the mail from the university I attend, recapping the financial aid package I received for the 2007-2008 school year. Today, I received another financial aid letter outlining the funds I'll be receiving for the 2008-2009 school year. My heart was broken when I realized they revoked a bunch of grants I was awarded last year. According to my FAFSA record, I am not eligible for the Federal Pell Grant, a grant I was awarded last year. I also lost one of my university grants, a first-year competitiveness award (that one I can understand, seeing as I'm no longer a first-year student), and a couple other grants I earned.
What I don't understand is how these could change. My university grant (the one they let me keep) went up, the Stafford E-Loan went up (subsidized), some other thing went up, and another loan they gave me (unsubsidized) is added on. On top of that, both tuition and housing went up in cost. Housing I'm not worried about since I don't live on campus. It's the tuition.
Nothing in my household had changed financially. My father still works as a produce man at ShopRite, my mom's still a CSL (customer service leader, AKA clerk) at Wawa, and I still work ONE DAY A WEEK at a small grocery store in town. Why on Earth are my grants revoked? Why am I not eligible for the Federal Pell Grant?
I emailed the financial aid office (because they never answer their phone) at school, but they haven't gotten back to me. I may phone them next week or stop by before class to see if they can answer my question. My luck, the office will be closed for the summer by time I get there.
So all I can really do at this point is either reject the unsubsidized loan (and pay 1k more a semester), or keep it and continue applying to outside scholarships. Regardless of what happens, I'm still going to apply for outside scholarships. I mean, any money is good money, and good money will pay for my education.
Supposedly education is made available to anyone and everyone, provided they show some interest in pursuing a further educational career, but they make it so hard for anyone to do anything; the people that really need it aren't getting it and those who don't want it are getting it.
Come on, people, screw your heads back on.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
I have a lot of problems with this, and I think it's one of the most selfish things I've ever read. There are people in other countries that do not have access to higher education at all, and are trapped in the situation that they were born into. You were born into a home with working parents in a country that has free access to college and a means to escape any situation you've ran into. You're complaining because someone has given you some free money, then gave you some more free money and offered some money for you to borrow so that you can continue to work only one day a week and attend college. They've even thrown in the notion that you only have to pay interest on part of the loan. You don't even have to work more than one day a week- how is anyone making your educational experience hard?
Come on, screw your own head back on.
I love abortion. Read more here:
http://progressiveu.org/044921-i-love-abortion-even-if-it-murder
Hm. If I could see you in person, I'd shake your hand. You're the first person I've encountered here who has challenged me to the fullest extent on an entry I've posted.
You're absolutely right, and I guess you could call me selfish, but right now I'm not concerned with people elsewhere in the world. It's not my prerogative. Right now, I'm thinking about what's going on here, and it's not just me who's lost money for school. My point is, though my parents are working (and hard working at that), they don't exactly make enough in one year to cover my education expenses. And with my one day a week job (I only work one day a week BECAUSE of school), the $50 paycheck I get is divided between a tank of gas and my train fare. Whatever's left over is saved for any art supplies/textbooks I need. The new loan they gave me is unsubsidized which is the most ridiculous kind of loan I have ever seen offered to a student. If they can't afford to pay that amount for school, what makes them (the feds) think that they will be able to pay that back plus more? Besides, I'm thinking more for my parents because it's not fair for them to insist paying for my education so I don't have to worry, and then have the tuition to go up and put an even bigger burden on them.
Now going back to the kids around the world who cannot pursue a higher education... We have people going over to countries like Sudan and Ethiopia to give aid to those in need. They're getting textbooks for their makeshift schools, and other materials too. It's not like they're completely shut out. There are so many ways for those children to get an education, it's just a matter of who is willing and has the power to make it happen. But honestly, like I said we need to take care of our own before we venture out to help others.
what's wrong with taking the stafford loan? My parents have been divorced since I was three, and my father does not support me financially at all. my mother works three jobs to support me and my brother, who will be beginning college in the fall. I will be going into my junior year. My pell grant was revoked last year because I made a decent amount of money at a summer job, mind you, not enough to cover what the Pell Grant covered, but that's the shitty way financial aid works. I got it back this year, because my mother made so little money. I have a large scholarship and grant money from my school, but I still owe usually ten grand a semester. In other words, I take out every possible loan stafford, Gate, Perkins, etc. This past semester, even all that wasn't enough, and I finally had to look for a private loan. Neither one of my parents qualified as cosigners. Eventually, my very generous grandfather agreed to cosign on the loan. I still have two years of school left, and have no idea where the cosigner for private loans is going to come from. I have a 4.0, work, am "involved" in clubs and I still don't get scholarship money. I agree that the financial aid/scholarship programs are inherently flawed and make it nearly impossible to afford school, but I consider myself to be extremely lucky that I've even been able to take out loans and make it this far in school.
It's not just about kids in third world countries, there are many people in our own country who are smart, hard-working, and yet will never have the means to receive higher education. So just be grateful that all you need to cover tuition is to take out a fairly low-interest stafford loan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Congrats on the 4.0! I missed a 4.0 by .03 of a point last semester. :\
Anyway, I don't have a problem with the Stafford loan I currently have, it's the UNsubsidized loan they tried to give me. I'm sure you know the difference between an unsubsidized loan and a subsidized. Like I told the Miss above, my parents are paying for my education out of their pocket, so I'm trying to make it as less of a blow as possible on them. Unsubsidized loans wouldn't help them any and really, they'd end up spending more trying to pay back that particular loan.
I do know the difference, as I have taken out both : )
I understand your desire to make it easier on your parents, but my point is why don't YOU pay back the stafford loan when you get out of college? I take out all of my loans because I am going to be the only person paying them back, as my mother couldn't even if she wanted to.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
That is a very good question. And actually, if I could pay my own tuition, I would but my parents won't let me dip into my savings (which was actually built up FOR this very reason) to pay my tuition. As for the loans, the story continues - they won't let me. And actually to prevent me from even considering doing so, my mom revoked my name from the savings account and put it in hers. :\