By Dafne Jacobs, Contributing Writer
With a record breaking number of incoming freshmen, the halls seem to be more packed than ever here at Saint Leo University. However, the number of freshmen who are staying is slowly decreasing due to many different reasons, most of them related to finances.
The financial aid office was busier than ever at the beginning of this year as freshmen waited to talk to someone about their loans and financial aid packages. Although Saint Leo’s cost of attendance of $29,000 is low compared to the cost of other private universities, for which cost of attendance can go into the $50,000s, it is becoming harder for students to get financial aid.
Some students were already here and moved in when they found out that their financial aid didn’t go through so they had to move out. Bright Futures, a state wide scholarship program for students who attended high school in Florida, did not give out funds until after the add/drop period, so many students were clueless as to how much they would get from Bright Futures for the first few weeks. The same happened with other scholarships, so some students ended up having to take out more loans after finding that they did not get as much as they were expecting from financial aid and scholarships.
The first week, Saint Leo’s Week of Welcome, is a time when everyone begins to meet each other and starts getting used to living on campus and being a Saint Leo Lion, and it must be tough to get a glimpse of that and then be refused the opportunity to continue. For the students who decide to stay for the semester or even a year, the blow might be harder, since they get to be here and make great friends for a whole year knowing that they won’t be living with the friends they have made anymore, and will have to start over somewhere else after winter break or after the summer.
I have heard of a student who lives on campus, for example, and had to take out $13000 in loans in order to attend. Her parents were denied many loans because of their credit score, so it was even harder for her to find loans and those she found were not very favorable in terms of payments and interest rates. It is clear that the system is broken, that because of her parents’ poor credit, she has to take unfavorable loans and may not be able to return for the next academic year.
Most of these students will either go to a community college or transfer to a public university that is cheaper than Saint Leo. Whether or not they continue their education at Saint Leo, it is clear that their drive to move forward will take them far.
