The Lone Star College System is processing a "tsunami" offinancial aid requests this year.
College officials had processed 38,000 requests as of earlyDecember, LSCS Chancellor Richard Carpenter said, which is twice asmany as last year. That's partly from a jump in enrollment, saidJed Young, LSCS executive director of communications.
"First, with substantially more students attending Lone StarCollege over the past couple of years, it follows that the amountof financial aid requests would increase and that more studentswould receive assistance as a result," Young said.
For the 2010-11 school year, 26,472 of the 62,339 LSCS students(42 percent) received a combined $128 million in financial aid,such as federal grants, loans or work study; state grants or workstudy; or local scholarships. For fall 2011 alone, 25,341 of the75,680 LSCS students (34 students) have received a combined $78million. Spring semester figures are not yet final and have notbeen released.
"That accounts for the biggest part of the increase in financialaid " Lone Star College has more students enrolled," Young said. "Ithink there's going to be a substantial increase when we see thetotals."
In October, LSCS was named the largest community college inTexas.
In fiscal year 2007, more than 616,000 students (approximately51 percent of total enrollment) attending higher educationinstitutions in Texas received more than $5.35 billion in federal,state and institutional financial aid, according to the TexasHigher Education Coordinating Board website, www.thecb.state.tx.us .
The majority (60 percent) of the aid received was in the form ofloans, followed by 39 percent in grants and 1 percent in workstudy. Nationally, loans make up 50 percent of financial aidreceived; grants, 49 percent; and work study, 1 percent.
Statewide, public community colleges awarded $774.9 million infinancial aid to 223,882 students in fiscal year 2007, according to www.thecb.state.tx.us . While most students attending high educationinstitutions receive financial aid, those attending Texas publicuniversities received the greatest share ($2.98 billion) in fiscalyear 2007.
This is the third semester Rabeesah Sheikh, of Kingwood, hasreceived financial aid. She is studying accounting atLSC-Kingwood.
"Without financial aid, I wouldn't have been able to go tocollege," she said. "Financial aid has really helped me pay for theexpense of college."
She encourages other students to fill out the Free Applicationfor Federal Student Aid to see if they qualify for federal funding.It's the federal government that increased financial aid fundingthis year, Young said.
For fall 2011, federal grants, loans and work study programsaccount for nearly $370 million in financial aid funds provided toLSCS students, according to data provided by LSCS.
While the federal government increased financial aid funding,the Texas Legislature cut education funds across the board. Thecuts happened at the same time that enrollment spiked at LSCS. Thecollege lost roughly $10 million in state funding while adding18,000 students in the last two years, as previously reported.
LSCS also has done a better job of working with students to helpthem with the financial aid process, primarily throughcentralization of financial aid resources and with increasedcommunication to students " on the LSCS website and other noticeson the college campuses, Young said.
"This fall, LSCS Chancellor Richard Carpenter created an LSCStask force to analyze the process internally, identify anypotential obstacles that students may face and to recommendsolutions," Young stated. "That process is ongoing through thestart of the spring semester, but the expectation is that the taskforce members will propose other operational improvements to helpstudents with the financial aid process."
All LSCS financial aid applicants must meet three SatisfactoryAcademic Progress requirements, prescribed by federal regulation,to receive financial aid, according to an LSCS press release. SAPrequirements include maintaining a cumulative grade point averageof 2.0, successfully completing 70 percent of cumulative creditsattempted and earning a degree or certificate within 150 percent ofthe published length in credit hours of the declared program ofstudy.
This was Jonnie Paddord's first semester at LSC-Tomball. She isstudying for an Associate of Science.
"The financial aid is helping me with the money," she said.
However, some of her friends weren't as lucky.
"They just have to cut back their classes and it'll take themlonger to get their degree," Pafford said of friends of hers whodidn't receive financial aid. "We're in a tight economy situationand everyone is hurting. Everybody could use financial aid andright now everybody wants to go back to school to get a betterjob."
To find out more about Satisfactory Academic Progress, visit LoneStar.edu/satisfactory-academic-progress .
To learn more about LSCS, visit lonestar.edu .
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