Financial Aid Guide: How Are You Paying for School?
By Michael Ellis
Thinking about how you’re going to pay for school lately? Well, I have. With recent changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) showing up on my TikTok feed and the email reminders to set up a payment plan before the semester starts, I decided to make an appointment with my financial aid specialist, SVU graduate, Devan Lamb.
I met with Devan to ask a few questions and better understand college financial aid, specifically the FAFSA. Devan said the FAFSA is “a way for our department to look at and see what -realistically-… the financial situation looks like at home”. This is how the department assesses students’ needs and allocate assistance where it is needed. The financial aid department recommends that every student apply to FAFSA. As of January 2024 there have been some changes to the application that are making it easier for the students to apply to FAFSA.
Students who fill out the FAFSA are automatically eligible for student loans. These loans are not required but can be a great option when it comes to paying for school. At times I — and maybe some of you — have thought of debt as a negative situation that should be avoided. To address my concern, Devan talked to me about how student loans can be seen as “good debt”. He brought up the term opportunity cost, a term I first learned about in Microeconomics with Professor Zebulen Riley (Assistant Professor of Economics).
He said, “Students who decide to take on a loan, in my opinion, are taking a risk…It’s a good risk, a minor debt setback to invest in their education.”
When making the decision to take out student loans, there are a few questions that we should ask, including does it make life more stressful? Or does it make it stressless?
Devan stated, “In most instances, because college kids don’t have an income, it makes financing stressless.”
If taking out student loans is the route you take, you might want to know exactly when you have to pay for them. As long as you are enrolled full-time, you are not required to pay before you graduate. Once you graduate, there is a six-month grace period before payments are due but if you drop below six credits, drop out of school and decide not to go back into college or education, or take a gap year, you will need to start making payments.
In some cases students may qualify for other forms of aid like grants and scholarships. These opportunities are often specific to each individual student and the best way to find out if you qualify for additional aid is to meet with your financial aid specialist.
Now is a great time to start planning for the future so those of you who currently have student loans, want to discuss options for paying for school, or have financial aid questions, the financial aid department is here to help. Meet with your financial aid specialist now!
