New Tools for Student Loan Borrowers
Spring is here, college finals are looming, commencement speakers are being announced, and before long, a new group of college graduates will need to start thinking about paying back their student loans. Earlier this week, the Department of Education announced new tools that will help recent college grads better understand their loan debt and stay on track in repayment.
These two new features include a Complete Counseling Web page and a new Repayment Estimator that lets the borrower easily compare monthly payment options under the seven repayment plans available. Both tools are part of the Obama Administration’s ongoing effort to help students and families make informed and sound financial decisions throughout each step as they pursue their higher education goals.
During his State of the Union address in February, President Obama unveiled the newCollege Scorecard to help empower students and families with more transparent information about college costs and outcomes. The Scorecard provides clear, concise information on cost, graduation rates, loan default rates and the amount families borrowed for every degree-granting institution in the country. The College Scorecard, along with the resources from Federal Student Aid, will help students take the right steps, financially and academically, to achieve their college degree.
As many know, managing loans can often be confusing and overwhelming for college students, and we want to ensure that graduates have access to tools that will help them successfully navigate this process. We encourage federal student loan borrowers to log in at StudentLoans.gov to take advantage of these new resources today!
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Kelsey Donohue is a senior at Marist College (N.Y.), and an intern in ED’s Office of Communications and Outreach
Why I’m a Poster Child of a Faulty College Financial Aid System
Why I’m a Poster Child of a Faulty College Financial Aid System
Some say I’m a lucky anomaly, but I believe I am the poster-child of a faulty college financial aid system. When my mother unexpectedly passed away two months before my third year of college, I knew nothing about how to find more than $25,000 needed to pay for my next year of school. My lack of knowledge about financial aid was only exacerbated by multiple run-arounds from the Office of Financial Aid (OFA) at my university. I learned to persist, but only at the expense of my faith in my school to support students like me.
Here’s why:
Three days after my mother died, I started my search for help. I emailed my academic advisor, who directed me to several sources; those sources asked that I report to the Office of Financial Aid (OFA), which went something like this:
On my first call to OFA, I didn’t qualify for aid because I missed the FAFSA deadline. I was told to submit a late FAFSA, but I would need my mother’s tax returns. When I couldn’t find her returns, the IRS told me that laws surrounding the privacy of her documents meant they couldn’t give them to me. I couldn’t even fill out a late FAFSA, based on what I was told.
My second call to OFA ended similarly. I didn’t qualify for aid, but this time because OFA needed my father’s tax returns if I didn’t have my mother’s. I hadn’t talked to him in over a year, and so I proceeded without them. I Googled “FAFSA,” and the first link asked me to spend more than $70 to fill out the form. I couldn’t afford that. Instead, my brother encouraged me to “take time off” and save up amid my frustration and grief. I could graduate later, he said. But to me, it sounded like I would become a dropout.
On my third call, I recounted my story to a different advisor, a story that described my previous phone calls to OFA, the IRS, and how I even tried to go about it on my own by contacting my academic advisor, financial aid liaisons, and then-assistant dean of students for support. I was in the Honors Program, en route to graduate a year early, and was heavily involved in community outreach programs. Wasn’t I the “model student”? Wasn’t I the perfect case for financial aid? At the end of my story, I told the financial aid officer that I was dropping out.
That was the game-changer.
This financial aid representative went above and beyond as an advocate when he said he would make sure I would graduate. Eight days later, I received a fully-funded aid package. Now, two years later, on May 4, I am graduating thanks to a stroke of luck, a lot of persistence, and a financial aid representative who was extremely generous (or, just doing his job).
The problem I have is financial aid shouldn’t be contingent on a stroke of luck, a student’s persistence, threats, or an employee’s attitude. The system should be easier to navigate, and it should be designed to support students like me. We need to devote our energies to our coursework, jobs, and internships, rather than the 339 email conversations it took to finally get my award notice. Now that I’m on my way out of the system, I wonder how many other students have stood in my shoes and given up, and how many more will relive my scenario and decide to dropout because of the lack of guidance.
Mimi Karabulut, a communications intern, is a senior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She bleeds blue and is very appreciative of the support she’s received.
Photo Credit: UMass Dartmouth
Here’s why:
Three days after my mother died, I started my search for help. I emailed my academic advisor, who directed me to several sources; those sources asked that I report to the Office of Financial Aid (OFA), which went something like this:
On my first call to OFA, I didn’t qualify for aid because I missed the FAFSA deadline. I was told to submit a late FAFSA, but I would need my mother’s tax returns. When I couldn’t find her returns, the IRS told me that laws surrounding the privacy of her documents meant they couldn’t give them to me. I couldn’t even fill out a late FAFSA, based on what I was told.
My second call to OFA ended similarly. I didn’t qualify for aid, but this time because OFA needed my father’s tax returns if I didn’t have my mother’s. I hadn’t talked to him in over a year, and so I proceeded without them. I Googled “FAFSA,” and the first link asked me to spend more than $70 to fill out the form. I couldn’t afford that. Instead, my brother encouraged me to “take time off” and save up amid my frustration and grief. I could graduate later, he said. But to me, it sounded like I would become a dropout.
On my third call, I recounted my story to a different advisor, a story that described my previous phone calls to OFA, the IRS, and how I even tried to go about it on my own by contacting my academic advisor, financial aid liaisons, and then-assistant dean of students for support. I was in the Honors Program, en route to graduate a year early, and was heavily involved in community outreach programs. Wasn’t I the “model student”? Wasn’t I the perfect case for financial aid? At the end of my story, I told the financial aid officer that I was dropping out.
That was the game-changer.
This financial aid representative went above and beyond as an advocate when he said he would make sure I would graduate. Eight days later, I received a fully-funded aid package. Now, two years later, on May 4, I am graduating thanks to a stroke of luck, a lot of persistence, and a financial aid representative who was extremely generous (or, just doing his job).
The problem I have is financial aid shouldn’t be contingent on a stroke of luck, a student’s persistence, threats, or an employee’s attitude. The system should be easier to navigate, and it should be designed to support students like me. We need to devote our energies to our coursework, jobs, and internships, rather than the 339 email conversations it took to finally get my award notice. Now that I’m on my way out of the system, I wonder how many other students have stood in my shoes and given up, and how many more will relive my scenario and decide to dropout because of the lack of guidance.
Mimi Karabulut, a communications intern, is a senior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She bleeds blue and is very appreciative of the support she’s received.
Photo Credit: UMass Dartmouth
