dealing with living expense money
that becomes an issue between the students and financial aid
Michael,
You are correct it can be a burden to student and the financial aid staff. Does your institution do anything special to assist the students in managing their borrowers and expenses. Many institutions provide counseling services to ensure the students understand their resposnibilities related to living expenses.
Best wishes in your continued online educational experience.
Sincerely, Chyrl
Our institute offers a counseling service to the student at the time the students requests the living expenses. We make the students aware of the monthly repayment incl. the living expense amount and without the living expense amount. This way the student is aware of the difference. We offer the student FWS as an alternative if we have availability and the student qualifies for the FWS program. We have the student meet with Career Service as well, to see if the department has any part time work for what the student is able to apply.
Milenka,
This is a great way to assist students with expenses and provide them with an opportunity to work in an office setting. It sounds as if your campus works diligently to come up with alternative ways to enable students to meet their expenses. Great job.
Best wishes in your online educational endeavors.
Chyrl Ayers
My school deals almost exclusively with zero EFC students -- most are from poverty stricken communities. Prospective students are "taught" by fellow students to "ask for every penny" regardless of true living expenses. Do you have any suggestions on how to council students that this can be to their detriment?
Kerry,
During my tenure at a college this was an issue that I battled with my student population. I hear this same concern from other FA professionals and some of them have developed forms that outline for the students the amount of incoming resources and outgoing expenses to counsel the students to borrow the minimum necessary. Also, they maintain counseling materials that cover loan indebtness and meet with the students to discuss repayment requirements based on the lifetime borrowering habits of the student. Most of them try to lead the student down a path to recognize that excessive borrowing is unnecessary and the student has the resouces necessary to cover indirect expenses while in college.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
I have the same issue with student’s asking for living expenses. We make the student do the entrance counseling again, write a statement as to why they need the money and provide documentation. If they are asking for housing allowance we ask for a rental agreement or a mortgage statement to show how much they pay. If their statement does not pertain to educational expenses we do not approve the request. Is this going too far or not far enough?
Cortni
CORTNI,
Interesting question. When building a Cost of Attendance budget you take into consideration indirect expenses such as R&B, Personal, etc. which allows the student to cover these expenses; however, I think it is important for all FA Professionals to handle federal dollars responsibly. I always too additional steps to counsel my students on borrowing and repayment and ensured the amount being borrowed was the "right" amount to meet their true educational related expenses. I think you are taking the right steps to ensure full disclosure and understanding.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
There are a number of issues that I see most every day. One is some students believe the funds are "their money" when actually it is Federal funds that must be paid back. Others, while counseling is done, start classes and hear other students talking about "my refund check, you are not getting one?? you need to go ask where yours is".
I make suggestions such as part-time employment, scholarships, etc. Some students, however, become very indignant that employment is suggested. "you can't expect me to go to school and work too"
The sense of intitlement is a bit too much
Elaine,
It can be a difficult situation to deal with when students are failing to grasp the responsibility that comes with borrowing funds to cover their living expenses. As long as you and your team are providing counseling and documentation explaining the borrowing and repayment of federal dollars you are meeting the necessary criterion. I think it is great that you provide information on other avenues such as scholarship and employment opportunities.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
