Financial Aid

Increasing financial aid has made the community college track more affordable today. However, students who have been awarded financial aid are quickly finding that getting approved for financial aid and getting a check to pay for mounting expenses are not necessarily the same.

The Backlog

Community college financial aid offices are getting inundated with financial aid applications this year as more students are finding reasons to head to these two-year institutions to prepare them for the workforce. At the same time, budget cuts are reducing the number of staff available to process this expansive number of applications. The result at many community colleges is a backlog of requests that will take many weeks to process.

This is not good news for thousands of community college students who rely on those financial aid checks to pay for basic necessities like food and rent and the cost of tuition and books. If the checks don't arrive timely, some students are faced with the realization that they may not be able to live up to their lease obligations, purchase the textbooks they need, or put food on the table. Some may be forced to abandon their education if financial aid doesn't come soon.

This video explains how (FAFSA) works.

Offering Assistance

In some cases, the colleges do what they can to help cash-strapped students eke by until the aid check arrives. Some

The Poorer the Student, the Less Likely to Apply for Aid

Community college students are much more likely to qualify for financial aid than four-year university students. However, students attending two-year institutions are unlikely to apply for assistance, according to a recently released report by the College Board. The discrepancy has inspired many higher educators to "put on their thinking caps" and devise a solution to make community college more affordable to those who can least afford it.

According to the College Board Study, only 58% of community college students eligible for Pell grants applied for financial aid, compared with 77% of Pell-eligible students at four-year institutions. The College Board report states, "Although community college students are more likely to be eligible for need-based federal aid, they are less likely than their peers at other types of institutions to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)."

College Raptor makes the following observation about some students not applying for financial aid. "The National College Access Network (NCAN) recently released an alarming study about college-bound students’ awareness of financial aid opportunities. Within their post, they reference other findings and statistics about higher education and financial aid. The Department of Education found that only 45% of high school students completed and filed the FAFSA. Less than half of graduating high school students apply for federal financial aid." Apparently, many high school students know little or nothing about financial aid.

This video

While financial aid, scholarships, and student loans are the most common ways to finance higher education, new savings-matching programs are helping more students attend community college. Imagine each dollar you save matched by a free dollar that you can use towards your college tuition!

Savings matching programs help low and middle-income students pay for college by matching the money that participants put in a college savings account. For example, the state of Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development runs a savings matching program called New Visions, New Ventures, which will match $2 for every $1 that eligible low-income participants deposit in a savings account. The program will provide up to $4,000 in matching dollars to participants. Participants must use the money to pay tuition, buy a first house, or start a business.

How Savers Can Benefit Even More through Philanthropy Websites

Recently, savings matching programs have begun partnering with philanthropic websites to increase the savings power of their participants even further. One such pioneering website is SaveTogether.com. At SaveTogether, individual donors can read the stories of low and middle-income individuals who are participating in savings matching programs and working towards savings goals that involve post-secondary education.

Individual donors choose individual savers to “match,” and donations made by individuals through SaveTogether are tax deductible.

How the Program Works

By working with a variety of programs that sponsor savings-matching efforts for community college tuition, SaveTogether furthers the power of these programs.

Profiles on SaveTogether Allow

As workers face a bleak economy with high rates of layoffs and low rates of new employment, President Obama has initiated new plans to help workers become more educated to compete in the job market.

In fact, in Obama’s recent 2009-2010 budget proposal, he clearly made college education a focal point for the improvement and success of the United States. Titling this budget proposal “A New Era of Responsibility,” Obama is seeking to provide students with additional financial aid support through both student loan programs and Pell Grant programs. With this approach, current and future college students may be able to save money while preparing for their futures.

An Increase in Aid

Through the proposal, President Obama asserts that the path to an enhanced economy and society is achieved through education. As the document states, college should be more properly funded and supported to, “Make sure that we have a highly-educated workforce and that the opportunity to go to college is not determined by how much money you have.”

To allow all individuals, regardless of income, to gain access to higher education opportunities, Obama’s proposal to increase student loan and Pell Grant financial aid support should stimulate an almost immediate benefit. Essentially, the 2009-2010 budget proposal allows for an increase in the maximum Pell Grant amount for each student. Currently, the Pell Grant maximum was capped at $4,731 per person; Obama has proposed to raise this maximum to $5,350 per person.

This video explains how

During times of political change, economic uncertainty, and fluctuating levels of job security, students of all ages are facing an array of personal and academic pressures. Many community college students and applicants are trying to cope with the mounting educational costs paired with added stresses of job loss, reduced wages, or soaring costs of living.

As many college applicants are struggling to find ways to pay for higher education expenses during economic tumultuousness, community college leaders across the country are seeking out new forms of financial aid to provide students with a greater scaffold of fiscal support.

Recent Financial Aid Reforms

In just the past several years, enormous changes have been made to the federal financial aid program, as struggling college students expressed with rising voices the difficulty of paying for the costs of college with limited access to money or means.

According to Art Hauptman from the Progressive Policy Institute, there was an initial jump-start to increasing federal student aid funding in 2005, when former President Bush renewed the “Higher Education Act.” With this act, the President proposed an increase to the Pell grant of $500 over the course of five subsequent years. As Pell grants were initially created to raise educational aspirations of socially and economically struggling Americans, many believe that the Pell grant increase would stimulate a boost in college accessibility and enrollment. Despite this positive reform, however, Hauptman