The Importance of Informing

On February 18, 2010, Financial Aid Director June Schlabach discussed the importance of financial awareness and the initiatives taken at Plymouth State University. The Financial Aid office recognizes the struggles that students face to pay loans. “We are very focused on students filling out their FASFA by the March 1st deadline,” Schlabach stated. With New Hampshire being at the bottom of state support of higher education, the average debt of a college graduate from Plymouth State is $29,708. Even within loan programs, the federal state limits a large amount of money. With that average amount of debt, the Financial Aid Team stresses the early March 1st deadline so that they can have a strong sense of how many students are in the pool. With a low budget, the Financial Aid Office wants to be able to support as many students as possible, as fairly as possible. “The Financial Aid Office is a part of student affairs. We are here to enhance students’ ability to stay in school and their quality of life at school,” said Schlabach. The Financial Aid Office serves as an informative team to educate students and their families regarding financial deadlines and literacy. They are non-academic. It is the Bursars Office that handles the funds directly. With the goal of informing students and families about financial literacy, the Financial Aid Office has created several programs to carry out those goals. The largest literacy project at Plymouth State University is the SMART program (Students Monetary Awareness Responsibility Today). The program was created in reaction to the increasing debt in New Hampshire college students. SMART offers counseling sessions, which show students their financial aid situation, along with literacy tools on how to manage your money. A few of the specific areas of education within SMART are the use of credit cards, tuition, debt, and the effects of irresponsible spending. Schlabach noted the importance of the $MART program, “We are committed to the continuation of the program”. The program is also advertised as a Facebook group with educational Youtube videos on the site. Schlabach and her colleagues have initiative several other awareness programs. The Stall Street Journal can be found in bathrooms and toilet stalls all around PSU. Each article contains valid information about financial deadlines and educates students on the importance of handling your finances. Informing a student body about these concerns is a challenge.In many cases student’s senses of loans and finances are not an immediate priority. That is why starting in the fall of 2010, a personal finances class will be added to the curriculum as a self and society general education credit. The University is in agreement with the Financial Aid Office in educating students. Schlabach feels strongly about ensuring the education of finances stating, “It (the course) should be required”. Innovative techniques have been put in place over the past 2 years. Financial Aid employees created the Gifts from Heart and Hand event. The program gives students, faculty, and staff an alternative way to give gifts during the holiday season without putting a dent in their bank account. The community builder is run to generate a list of over 200 gift ideas that cost no more than $10. Getting students involved plays an important factor in the initiatives supported by the Financial Aid Office. Other student involvement initiatives include announcing deadlines to student senate, sending out emails to the student body, and encouraging students to write their congressman and senators to help with student funding”Every student with loans must prepare an exit”, Schlabach stated. The exit gives students a breakdown of all their loans so they know the status of how much they owe. “Our sincere concern is that students are mortgaging their future which will impact their quality of life after graduation. The financial commitments they make today could affect them for the next 20 to 30 years”. The Financial Aid Office and the University have made several steps over the past few years to ensure students education and awareness on financial issues. It is now the students turn to take advantage of the time they have to also stress the need for money. With the community as a whole working together for financial literacy initiatives, students are bound to see improvements in the years to come. Time and effort will only tell.