By Sam Baker, KERA Morning Edition Host
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-919519.mp3
Dallas, TX –
Of the 30-thousand or so students expected at U.T./Arlington this fall, about 22-thousand will receive some form of financial aid. Karen Krause heads the financial aid office. She's says more people are applying - in part because of the recession, enrollment growth and U-T-A's efforts to make people aware financial aid's available. It's too late to get financial aid in time to meet fall tuition payment deadlines at most state colleges - you'd have to arrange some other way to pay upfront. However, in this KERA Economy segment, Krause tells KERA's Sam Baker assistance is still possible. But first, you have to apply.
Karen Krause: The first thing a student would need to do is complete the free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA form, and that is at the government website of www.fafsa.gov.
Sam Baker: And FAFSA determines if you get aid or FAFSA determines if you might qualify...
Krause: It determines if you might qualify. You have to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. You have to not be in default on a previous student loan. There are some criteria like that, as well as income, household size, those kinds of issues. Once we have that information then we can determine what the student is eligible to receive in terms of specific funding. At this point we're probably pretty limited. The Federal Pell Grant may still be available, it is awarded to those students that have the highest need or the highest eligibility and as determined by the FAFSA. And then student loans are probably the other option. at this point. Most of our state and institutional grants, scholarships, and that sort of thing have been exhausted for this current year.
Navigate the recession with KERA! Get tips on avoiding foreclosure, access job resources and more at kera.org/economy.
Sam: There've been changes in how this loan program works.
Krause: Back in the late spring a new law was passed. Instead of there being a traditional lending entity involved in the process, all of the loans are handled through the U.S. Department of Education now.
Sam: Now U.T./Arlington was wanting to make this switch anyway?
Krause: We felt like over the last several years the climate for the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which was the program that used the traditional lenders, had changed significantly. A number of those lenders had chosen to get out of the program for financial reasons and we were just seeing service to our students decline because of that. There was confusion as to who previous borrowers had used as their lender and that sort of thing. And we felt like, that it would be better for our students and a little easier from a consumer information standpoint, to simply use one source for funding.
Sam: You know, in the event that you're turned down, say, for a loan or for a grant, are there still options if you're wanting to attend school?
Krause: It would be much more likely that you might not be eligible for a grant because of allocations and that sort of thing. Our state grants and our institutional grants - we exhaust those funds really quickly. As far as being turned down for a student loan, a federal student loan, that really would only happen if you didn't meet some of those general eligibility requirements such as you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or if you were in default on a previous loan. What could happen is it may be that you're not eligible to borrow enough money under the federal loan programs to cover all of your costs. And that certainly is a reality for some of our students. We do have some alternative loan programs that we offer to students, but they are credit based, so there are some issues. Not all of our students or parents will qualify for some of those loans as well.
Sam: When students learn that they've been approved for loan money, does it really hit them, how much debt they're taking on?
Krause: Sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it does, and it's a very good question. One of the things that is required of every loan recipient before they can receive the very first disbursement of their loan, is that they must complete something called an entrance counseling session. And in that entrance counseling session, their rights as a borrower and their responsibilities as a borrower are outlined to them. Now much of that is done online and their certainly is the option for people not to pay very much attention to what it is that they're committing themselves to. But at least there is an attempt to help students understand what it is that they are committing themselves to and what the terms of the repayment are, when it will start, the interest rates, those kinds of things. All of that is included in that entrance counseling session.
Karen Krause is director of financial aid at U.T./Arlington. Her office recently dispersed just under 79-million dollars in student financial aid. Loans accounted for only 37-million. The rest went to grants and scholarships.
There's more financial related information at http://www.kera.org/economy.
Additional Information:
http://www.fafsa.gov
http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/index.html