Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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program, about S6 million has been given out in loans. Accord- ing to Henry Stricklin, loan accounting officer, 52.5 million has been repaid or cancelled by teaching benefits. Until 1972, loans were cancelled after five years of teaching. 53.5 million is outstanding. But this is a realistic figure, says Stricklin, because we allow students ten years to repay the loans. Bor- rowers from the 70's have just begun to repay, and the number of borrow- ers has increased in the last four to five years. The financial aids office does have T some problems. They must make sure that students fill out applica- tions honestly, use the money to fur- ther their educations, and repay the loans. Bloomcamp says that less than 1 per- cent of the students who receive aid use the money incorrectly. Of , course, there is the student who gets the money, quits school, and buys an automobile. But this is the excep- tion. There is a slightly larger problem with students not repaying loans. The default rate at PSU is 7 percent, as opposed to the national default rate which is 15 to 20 percent, according to Stricklin. Bloomcamp believes that default occurs because the programs do not loan money according to credit references or past histo- ry of repayment. Stricklin agrees and adds that sometimes students being buying furniture, cars, and homes during the nine month free period after graduation before the first pay- ment on a student loan is due. Stricklin says that his office, which handles collections, holds a meeting at the end of each semester to explain the repayment system. We try to make the borrowers understand that the money is not a gift, and the government does not owe it to them. After the student leaves school, and the nine month free period is up, the student is billed. If a payment is not received within 30 days, he is sent a reminder. After 60 days, the student receives a stronger reminder and a notice that all records in the registrar's office will be held if a payment is not received. After 90 days, the hold goes into effect, and after 120 days the government considers the loan defaulted and the student re- ceives a letter warning him that the loan will be turned over to a collection agency. Stricklin says that the Board of Regents contracts with two In these inflationary times, money goes fast. Education is important but expensive. Tuition, books, room and board and the cost of living make attaining an education difficult. The financial aids office may be the answer. All students who need aid get it, says one official. collection agencies, Credit Adjustment Company in Wichita and North American Credit Service, Inc. in Kansas City. All Kansas state institutions use these agencies. The agencies keep 30 percent of collected loans. Contacts are made mainly by telephone, and the agencies have the authority to file suit or make a claim or garnish wages. Stricklin says that the agencies rarely take the former students to court, however, because it usually turns out to be a waste of time and money, since the most common reason for non-repayment of loans is lack of money.

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lt isn't difficult for a student to spend money - tuition, room and board, books, supplies, and personal expenses add up quickly. But it is sometimes difficult to find the money to spend on the high cost of education. Help may be available in Russ Hall. Grants, loans, and work programs are available to students, both part time and full time, who can prove they need financial aid to attend college. All students who need aid get it, according to G.E. Bloomcamp, director of financial aids at Pittsburg State, but the student must take the first step by filling out the proper forms. XxixxX The most proper form for every type of financial aid available at PSU is the Ameri- can College Testing Family Financial State- x E ment QACTJ. The primary criterion for all Q types of aid is financial need, and ACT is a S financial analysis service which helps deter- Q mine the student's eligibility for various -- kinds of financial aid. Eligibility depends on - ' family income, assets, number of children, ' C-,,,..-0 and number of children in college. If a stu- dent is totally independent of his family, even if he comes from an upper-middle or upper class family, he is eligible for the work-study program or a student loan. .4-iff f Z Z Marilyn Hay, assistant director of financial aids, says that the Basic Educational Oppor- tunity Grant QBEOGJ program is the most popular aid program on campus, about a third of the students take advantage of it. The BEOG is a federally run program, that is, the government, not PSU employees, de- cides which students are eligible and how much money they may receive. The grants do not require repayment, and they range in amount from S200 to S1400 per year. The amount each student receives is arrived at by subtracting computed family contributions, based on the information in the ACT, from 51400. Grants are also available through the Supple- mental Educational Opportunity Grant QSEOGJ program, but SEOG funds are award- ed only after other sources of aid have been exhausted. Funds for the SEOG program, like the BEOG program, come from the federal government and do not have to be repaid. Unlike the BEOG, however, the PSU financial aids office determines which students receive money from the SEOG program. Grants range in amount from S200 to S1500 per year. One alternative to a grant is a student loan. About 7 percent of the students at PSU use the Federally Insured Student Loan QFISLJ program. They can borrow up to S2500 a year. The interest rate on a FISL is 7 percent. A National Direct Student Loan QNDSLQ has an interest rate of 3 percent, and about 12 percent of the students on campus are attending college at least partially due to an NDSL. Recipients may be granted an amount up to S2500 the first two years of XXixxW Q Hff 6 0,72 1-:LYQLSK Q ,Mali Y we 4 Q 0000 OW 0 00 C school and up to S5000 for the last two. Ninety percent of the money used for these loans comes from the federal govern- ment, and the school provides the remaining 10 percent. Be- cause the school provides part of the funds used for the loans, the financial aids officials help decide who gets loans. Like the government, PSU uses information on the ACT to determine needs. Since 1960, when Pittsburg State initiated its financial aids 000 ook

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