Students who are eligible for financial aid loans often become in debt due to the cost after college schooling, but the ability to acquire scholarships to pay for your schooling is almost free funding. According to DMACC’s financial aid website, 70% of students receive financial aid and over 1,500 scholarships are awarded to students each year. Here are some current DMACC students who are willing to talk about their situations with financial aid and the benefit of what a scholarship could do for them. Many students are familiar with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It connects students with financial support in three forms: Pell Grants, work study opportunities, and loans.
Domonique Forrest is a second year at DMACC, going for his Journalism degree and has received financial aid to pay for his schooling. Forrest says, “I think the biggest issue is figuring out how to pay back the loans.” Some students and families of students can’t afford the schooling of their children and rely on financial aid to cover their expenses of college, but the burden of financial aid is the heavy loan you must pay back.
Meredith Olsen, who is a first year at DMACC for film and media production, previously went to DMACC in 2020 for her RN degree and applied for financial aid at the time. Olsen says, “The financial aid was a fairly difficult process with the paperwork and after you get done with school, you have to pay off these loans with high interest rates and get a job that earns high enough to pay off those loans. It has helped a lot of people, but I also think it’s a trap because when you’re younger, you don’t realize how much you are going to owe and the amount of expenses you will have later on.” Meredith brings up her experience as a previous student having financial aid and paying it off is not what it seems to be and can trap you in extensive payments with accumulating interest.
Heidi Sisler is an Admissions & Financial Support Coordinator for DMACC. Sisler says, “Of the student loans, there are two types: subsidized loans–the government pays the interest on these loans while a student is in school and taking 6+ credit hours each semester–and unsubsidized loans–interest is not paid by the government.” Regardless of which type of loan you acquire, loans still have to be paid back.
Forrest says, “I think scholarships are a good idea because it’s money that you don’t have to pay back sometimes, and if you do it won’t be as much as a loan.” There are many scholarships that DMACC provides for enrolled students on their scholarship webpage, and many others provided individually unattached from DMACC that they show.
Olsen says, “Scholarships are extremely important and there is more for students to find. When I was going to school, there were quite a few scholarships, but only for minimal amounts.”
Sisler says, “Scholarships have applications that a student must fill out, students will find out what requirements are needed to complete the application such as an essay, proof of achievement, etc.” It may be a difficult process to fill out applications with the regulations necessary for the scholarship or even be eligible for the scholarship and its conditions.
Overall, having financial aid may be necessary in some situations for people, but it also makes most people indebted to the loans received later and cannot pay them off. With the constantly rising prices and costs of living and products, costs for tuition also go up, and getting a scholarship will help with the amount you can afford for college. Utilizing programs and scholarships that offer money is something to be sought after.
