Springhillianissue1 spring 2016

Page 1

The

Springhillian February 4, 2016

LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER! SEE PAGES 4-5 FOR MORE MARDI GRAS FUN!

Volume 102 Issue 1 ∙ Ad Majorem Del Gloriam

Reapply for Your Free Money By: Desire Phillips Reporter The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is available now for students to complete before Spring Hill’s March 1 priority deadline so they can receive financial aid for the 2016-2017 school term. 2016 marks some changes to financial aid. Bethany Brown, the assistant director of SHC’s financial aid department, said the maximum Pell Grant assistance will increase from 5,775 to 5,815 beginning with the fall 2016 semester. Some students are happy about the increase, while others are somewhat disappointed. Marian Cook, a freshman, said, “It may only be a $40 increase, but at least it’s more. And I’ll be $40 less in debt!” Samm Brown, a freshman, said, “I love the idea that they are raising the grant. However, it would be nice if it was at least a little more than just by 40. Honestly, I don’t really see the point in that.” A big change to the FAFSA is how income must be reported beginning with the 2016-2017 application. According to Forbes.com, President Obama changed the filing format in September 2015. Because of this change, students must now use the “prior-prior year (PPY) filing format.” Under the PPY format, students must report their parents’ 2015 income on the 2016-2017 FAFSA as well the 20172018 FAFSA. 2016 income will not be reported until the 2018-2019 FAFSA. Forbes reports that the change is due to most financial aid deadlines being between January and March, which causes many applications to be completed using estimated income because parents’ tax returns are not completed for the prior year. Then when those tax returns are filed, students have to update their applications. This makes the financial aid process complicated and delays finalizing aid. According to the FAFSA website, the 2016-2017 IRS Data Retrieval Tool will not be available until Feb. 7, 2016. Bethany Brown said, “We do have limited funds for certain types of aid. So if you want to be one of those firstcome, first-served persons, get your application in by March first. But we do take them all the way through the

academic year.” The limited funds include work-study funds, institutional grants and scholarships. Students favor grants because the money does not have to be paid back. However, many students have to take out loans to offset their remaining tuition costs. In lieu of loans, students should actively search for outside scholarships, so they can graduate with less debt. Students can search for scholarships through Badger Web under the “Finance” tab as well as websites such as Scholarships.com and BigFuture.CollegeBoard.org. Meeting with one of SHC’s financial advisors is also an option for help locating additional funding. Samm Brown said, “My father passed away over the break. All extra scholarships I will be receiving will be from donors giving to me for that reason. I found them because of my wonderful financial advisor and the rest of her staff. I am extremely grateful for the outside scholarships because my dad passing didn’t only leave a gap in my heart, but a gap in my finances.” According to US News, an abundance of scholarships is available for students enrolled as business, psychology, or computer science majors. US News says these are the top three majors and are therefore the most funded. They also suggest using CollegeNet.com and Fastweb.com to search for scholarships in addition to the two websites previously mentioned. When searching and applying for scholarships, be sure to carefully read the requirements as well as pay attention to the deadlines. Few students skip filling out the FAFSA and miss out on free money because they think they don’t qualify for aid. However, that is not the case because the financial aid office can find you eligible for school-based grants and scholarships. So remember to file your FAFSA before the first day of March to receive priority consideration for the limited funding that Spring Hill has to offer.


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