Student Loan Blog : American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers

Citing the Economy, Students Transfer from Private to Public Schools

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:29:00 GMT

Public colleges and universities are experiencing a greater influx of transfer applications from private school students as the flagging economy heightens students’ concerns about their ability to pay for college, Bloomberg reports (“Rutgers Sees 50% Jump in Transfers as Economy Sours,” March 5, 2009).

“Students seem to be price shopping,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. “People are hedging their bets financially. There is a real economic motivation.”

According to the College Board, students at four-year private colleges pay, on average, $34,130 for tuition, room, and board, while students attending a four-year public school generally pay only $14,340 — a price discrepancy prompting more students to switch schools as the recession lingers.

Schools See Sizable Jumps in Transfer Applications

Rutgers University is just one of a growing number of public schools, including state universities in Texas, Indiana, and Florida, that is seeing more transfer requests coming from students attending private institutions; this year it has received 632 transfer student applications, which is a 52-percent increase from the 416 applications it received last year.

At Florida Atlantic University, a public school where state residents pay just $3,662 in tuition for a 30 credit-hour semester and are eligible for state scholarships that cover 75 percent of their college costs as long as they maintain a B average, transfer applications have increased 37 percent for the summer term and 22 percent for the fall semester. For its summer session starting in June, the school has already received 265 transfer applications from students at private colleges, a figure that will easily surpass last year’s total of 277.

“I’d love to take credit for it all, but I know the economy has to have some part,” said Barbara Pletcher, Florida Atlantic’s director of admissions.

While admissions officers have noticed that transfer applications have increased more than in past years and that a greater number of them have come from students at private colleges, they are quick to point out that applications don’t always translate into enrollments. Students often don’t realize they can’t afford to pay for school until they receive their tuition bills, by which time it’s too late to transfer and too late to take out additional student loans to cover the expenses they didn’t account for.

“After they get their tuition bill, you’re going to see a group scrambling and we will be full,” said Jason Langdon, director of admissions at Montclair State University in New Jersey, which has received 22 percent more transfer applications this year. “The earlier in the process they can get everything lined up, the better off they’ll be.”

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Number of Students With Unpaid Tuition Bills Growing

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:24:00 GMT

Colleges and universities all across the country are seeing larger numbers of students who may soon be forced to drop out of college due to unpaid bills, according to a recent survey (“Unpaid College Tuition Bills Rise, Survey Finds,” U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 9, 2009).

The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officer s found that of the 43 college registrars it surveyed, more than 65 percent said that they’d experienced an increase in unpaid bills over the previous year. At Spelman College in Atlanta, for example, nearly 25 percent of the student body — a record-breaking 500 students — is behind on their bills by an average of $3,000; nearly double the number of students who fell behind last year.

5 Things Cash-Strapped Students Can Do to Stay in School

In order to avoid being kicked out of college, students may take the following five steps to resolve their unpaid tuition bills:

Contact the registrar.
Some schools are willing to work with students to bring their accounts up to date. Schools may offer students an “emergency” loan, or give them the option of using a payment plan that allows a student to pay off the total amount they owe in small payments over a period of time.

Stop by the financial aid office.
There may be several school-sponsored scholarships available to students that schools didn’t offer before. To help students affected by the recession, some schools have raised additional funds to expand or create new financial aid programs, although aid may be limited.

Complete last year’s FAFSA.
Students who fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid could still retroactively receive college grants and low-cost loans that they would’ve qualified for last year. If nothing else, by filling out the FAFSA now, students may qualify for a federal student loan that could get help them get through the next semester.

File a “PJR”
If a student’s or a family’s financial circumstances have changed, such as a job or income loss, a student may request a PJR, a “professional judgment review,” from their financial aid office. During a PJR, the financial aid office may determine that a student needs more funds for college and could award them emergency or other aid.

Try peer-to-peer lending.
Once all other options are exhausted, students may want to explore borrowing money from extended family members, friends, or even strangers through social lending sites like GreenNote or LendingClub. But students should read the fine print on any loan documents to ensure they understand their rates and terms before borrowing.

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Government Warns: Pell Grant Program in Trouble

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:47:00 GMT

Without additional taxpayer funds next year, the government’s “most important” federal financial aid program may be unable to provide Pell Grants to millions of eligible low-income students, likely pricing these students out of a higher education, according to an article in The New York Times (“Pell Grants Said to Face a Shortfall,” Sept. 17, 2008).

In a memorandum issued last week, the Department of Education warned that it predicts a $6 billion shortage for the federal Pell Grant program next year, stemming from continuous budget shortfalls and compounded by the record-high number of students qualifying for the federal Pell Grant program.

Rising tuition costs, shrinking state aid to colleges and universities, and a growing number of adults who are reenrolling in college are all putting a strain on federal financial aid resources, particularly on Pell Grants, which don’t have to be repaid. This school year alone, six million students out of the nine million who applied for federal financial aid received Pell Grants, some of the highest numbers the program has seen since its inception in 1972.

“It’s the mother of all shortfalls,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. “There’s more unmet need than anyone predicted.”

Last year Congress appropriated nearly $14 billion for the Pell Grant program, but as the troubled economy continues to force adults out of the workforce and back into the classroom, the Department of Education said it will either need to allocate more taxpayer money to the Pell Grant program or decrease the grant award amounts students can receive next year.

Should the Education Department decide to reduce Pell Grant awards, it would make an announcement detailing its decision sometime in February 2009, according to the memorandum.

“If [the Pell Grant program] is threatened, you’ll hear about it,” said Edward M. Elmendorf, senior vice president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “The decibel level will be deafening.”

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