“Every student’s going to go through the experience after college where they have bigger financial responsibilities than they had before, so the best way to prepare is to start now,” Tole said.
Browsing: Financial aid
Given the success of endowment returns over the past five years, Morehead said his office has a goal to continue to grow the endowment, so that for every billion dollars the endowment accrues, there is an additional $50 million that goes to student scholarships and programs.
“Nobody’s dream should come to an end when it is of no fault of their own, and that’s why I think it’s very important that we do all we can to help those from these areas,” Dutschmann said.
“The Student Emergency Fund is not meant to be used as an additional scholarship application for when students are seeking more overall financial aid,” Miller said. “However, when those emergency moments happen that need to be covered, the Student Emergency Fund may be a viable resource.”
“We will be looking for more ways to enhance affordability, and growing our endowment is one of the best ways to do that, so [Student] Foundation scholarships are certainly critical,” Livingstone said. “The Student Foundation has done a tremendous amount of work to raise funds for student scholarships… They are wonderful ambassadors for our campus.”
“The main changes with the new form should be really helpful once they get all of the kinks worked out. The fact that parents and students can each file their own form with the Department of Education then connecting those together is really helpful,” Rounke said.
Long story short, there are a lot of expenses when it comes to college, and students might not be well-equipped to handle them. Baylor has resources for financial aid and counseling; however, it’s still vital to understand what costs you or your family are paying and how they can impact you in the long run.
The hold-up comes from a congressional overhaul made to the FAFSA to make it easier to use. While current Baylor students are not expected to be affected, the application’s overhaul has caused a delay in when universities actually receive it, causing issues for prospective students. In a normal timeline, the FAFSA first opens in October and universities would be able to receive them later that month.
Only suckers pay the sticker price, so let them! Instead, spend some time applying for a few scholarships after a well-thought-out conversation with a Baylor financial aid adviser. Somebody is going to walk home with that scholarship; why shouldn’t it be you?
“I think that that’s really the idea is the hope is that this attention on the FAFSA field makes the FAFSA feel more like a partner and achieving your degree instead of a roadblock and achieving your degree, and that’s really what we’re trying to do,” Anderson said.
The financial aid assistance program offers a “concierge-like” service to students who are seeking guidance on a variety of topics, such as financial aid, housing or meal plans, according to the BaylorProud website.
The scholarship hunting process for tuition valued at more than $43,000 a year can be a daunting task for students.
The first place Baylor students can look for scholarships is the student financial services site, www.baylor.edu/sfs.
While Gov. Mitt Romney, vying for the Republican nomination, campaigned in Illinois, he spoke to a crowd at the University of Chicago. Answering a question concerning the extreme expenses of student loans and the availability of employment opportunities, Romney said, “I don’t see how a young American can vote for a Democrat.”
Of 3,259 first-time freshmen who set foot on campus in the fall 2010 semester, 476 opted not to return for their sophomore year, according to Baylor’s Office of Institutional Research and Testing. While some assume students leave because their scholarship packages fail to keep up with rising tuition costs, data compiled by the office of the provost indicate people leave for a variety of reasons, some of which supersede or exacerbate financial difficulties.
At Baylor specifically, students that are accepted are awarded a scholarship based on their ranking and test scores. There are also numerous other scholarship opportunities afforded to Baylor students.
The Texas Legislature faces hard choices. Budget cuts are inevitable. Within the range of possibilities is the Tuition Equalization Grant program that supports many financially challenged first-generation and minority students enrolling in one of the state’s educational treasures — its 40 private colleges and universities, many of which are faith-based.
The possibility of severe Texas Equalization Grant cuts has caused leaders of colleges and universities across the state to speak out on behalf of the financial aid program. Today, President Ken Starr will send an email to members of the Baylor family, calling them to support the TEG program and contact their state legislators to express concerns about the proposed cuts to the program.
Baylor has again created a waitlist for its incoming freshman class, with applications having already topped 38,000, far surpassing last fall’s 34,224 applications. However, students can still apply to the university.
