The cost of higher education has increased over the years, but student wallets are not any bigger than they used to be. More Ohio University students are taking out loans, but a variety of financial aid options help them make ends meet.
During the 2002-2003 school year 2,374 OU students -four times as many students than the year before -took out $6,810,365 in private loans to close the gap left between their families' finances and the cost of attendance.
Loans continue to grow
and gift aid is growing less said Soni Williams, financial aid director for OU. Twenty years ago education was paid for by grants. I'm not sure that we're going to be back there.
Between the 1999-2000 and 2002-2003 school years, the amount of private loan money funding OU students' educations has risen more than 330 percent. That's kind of scary
Williams said.
In comparison, the amount of grant money awarded by OU has risen about 17 percent in the same time period, and the federal government has increased its Pell Grant budget by 54 percent.
The federal government also offers loans to eligible students and sets maximums based on hours completed -the more hours a student has, the more money they can receive. But, the caps at each level have remained the same for more than a decade.
Wesley Dunlap, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Maryland, said his loans total about $4,000 each quarter. He has federal student loans in addition to federal PLUS loans, which are only for parents. The grants and scholarships he received from OU are not really helpful
he said. I'm still in debt.
Other students receive full aid. Katie Labovitz, a junior telecommunications major, got a full tuition scholarship from OU, in addition to the Dean's Scholarship for $1,200 per year. As a resident advisor, she stays at OU at a discounted price, and she also receives a $3,000 per year private scholarship. Her parents pay the remaining bill.
Federal grants are not cutting it either. The maximum federal Pell Grant this year was $4,050, a $50 increase from the year before, and it will remain the same for next school year. Fifty dollars doesn't even hardly pay for a book
said Williams. It's wonderful that the federal government is increasing their funding
but it's losing its value.
Scholarships and other forms of university aid haven't kept pace with the increasing tuition over the years, she said.
Helen Lewis, a freshman from Cincinnati originally from the United Kingdom, said she did not receive any aid from OU -but the cost of education is reasonable in the United States compared to the United Kingdom. It's ten times more expensive at home than it is here.
Non-need-based scholarships from OU exceeded the amount of need-based scholarships by more than $2.7 million in the 2002-2003 school year. But Williams said OU is currently starting to go down the need-based route.
One third of the revenue gained from last year's tuition increase has been funneled to need-based scholarships, she said. We're kind of catching up.
I continue to be concerned that with the rising costs that needier students won't continue to come (to OU)
and I think we need that (economic) diversity
said Williams.
Just 18 percent of undergraduate financial aid applicants have yearly incomes less than $30,000. The majority of students, 62 percent, estimated their yearly family income to be $60,000 or more.
Unless the gap between financial aid and educational costs is bridged, Williams fears that OU's economic diversity will continue to suffer. I think that's a shame to any institution.
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