Common Cents Leaves Change for Some

The current economic times have been no mystery in determining the stability of the financial world. The clash between Wall Street and Main Street has caused law makers to take action against the inflation, recession and negative outlooks we face as a society today. While such efforts are still underway, it is apparent that many Americans have been faced with economic hardships. Many within the NEIU community, and operations of NEIU, have also been touched by economic hardship, forcing not only students, but also procedures within the administration and financial aid department, to adjust as well.

At the state of the university address, President Hahs focused on the relationship between institutional goals and the current budget, based off the 2009 fiscal year, to set the tone to "match priorities and funding".

While public sector funding, which includes state and federal aid, is lower than previous years, enrollment has increased. "Enrollment growth can compensate additional funding," said Hahs. Tuition-based income increased from 46 percent in the 2009-2010 academic years to 52 percent this academic year, while state funding decreased from 54 percent to 48 percent for the university. Despite the decrease in state funding, total revenue for the university has increased, allowing NEIU the choice not to engage in borrowing money from the government, while other state universities have borrowed.

While the financial status of the university is sound, state and federal funding must be maintained. "It is not a simple matter," said Hahs. The idea that educators must protect funding for public education was strongly emphasized by Hahs as well.

An example of how funding has been maintained and increased over the past year is the Federal Pell Grant, which for the 2010-2011 academic year totaled $28,654,000, the highest in three years, according to the Department of Education Appropriations Act.

For qualified NEIU students, the maximum Pell Grant award increased from $5350 to $5550, reflecting an overall increase of $9,276,059 from the 2009-2010 academic year to this year.

Maureen Amos, NEIU's financial aid director, said the "Pell does not run out". Amos and financial aid assistant directors, Jenny Fisher and Miriam Ocasio-Collazo, agree that filing early, recruiting and retaining students, allows for the greatest opportunity to receive federal funding. "Students seem to be more savvy to look for free money," said Amos.

While such trends and information reflect an optimistic approach to educational funding, since federal funding and budget allocations have increased, economic uncertainty still remains.

Recent changes in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) reflect the recent economic times. For example, the inclusion of "special circumstances" questions allows applicants to indicate if they have "special circumstances" or are "homeless or at risk of being homeless".

Even though such circumstances are taken into account, grasping on to financial aid is still difficult for many. The expected family contribution (EFC) score determines who is eligible for Pell Grants, assigning a score to each individual according to their information. Amos agrees, "the lower the score [the EFC], the more likely it is a student is going to receive more Pell funding." If students do not fall within the range, then they are not eligible for Pell grant awards.

U.S. News & World Report (2010) ranked NEIU as number one in the country for least amount of debt students incur when they graduate. Factors such as low tuition help in achieving this spotlight. However, despite the comparatively low cost of tuition, the fact is students do accumulate debt through student loans.

Due to the banking crisis, congress has removed banks from the loan process, allowing universities to go directly through the Department of Education for federal loans. This has created competition for alternative private lenders to try to stay involved. However, if students choose to stay with private loans through banking institutions, they become vulnerable to a particular bank's policies.     

Amos stressed the importance for students to only "borrow what they need." She adds, "The Stafford loan program is a tremendous opportunity to stay out of debt…there is no credit check and loans are guaranteed."

Despite opportunities for financial assistance for students, and the university, the changes in financial trends have left many cautious overall. The administration is satisfied with its current financial status, however, Hahs underlines that the budget and financial decision making will take a "conservative approach".

Compared to other public Illinois universities, tuition rates have remained conservative in accordance with "financial aid department studies, which use profiling to see if it is possible to raise tuition," Amos said.

Although there will always be a need, for financial aid, it is clear that public institutions, such as NEIU, allow an opportunity for students to receive a quality education backed by financial support. However, this climate is only underlined by the business of education, which in general has been hit hard from all sides of economic change; dispersing change to some, while restricting change for many.