Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Help college students with extra aid



BY RIE UMANO

During this recent economic crisis, most college students and their families are having hard time to pay expensive college tuition. According to the National Association of College and University Business officers, it is getting harder and harder to get endowments due to the state of the economy. College endowments’ investment fell 23% compared to last year. However, according to the colleges’ financial-aid offices, currently there is a steep increase in requests from families for more aid. The article states that “Syracuse University reports a 30% increase in financial-aid appeals that it has granted over the same period.” Our chancellor, Nancy Cantor also mentioned in Syracuse University News that the university is seeking to keep the tuition increase rate in a rage well below what it has been for the last several decades or more, and responding the financial aid requests as quickly as possible. The article says that Syracuse University started a program called ‘Syracuse responds” which is a fund-raising initiative. It was started to help families that face with difficulties due to the financial crisis. It helped more than 350 students by raising $850,000.
Many other top private colleges increased aid for families including middles and upper-middle income families. Colombia University eliminated loans for all students and replaces them with grants. Those strong supports from college are really helpful for many college students in the U.S.

Sources:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123379454424850107.html
http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=b71blp10w3ykjlph41grh14b18hldzkq
http://www.nextstudent.com/student-loan-blog/blogs/sample_weblog/archive/2009/01/08/3209.aspx

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