Financial Aid Falls Apart

The only girl I know to have read every page of Lit Hum reading considered dropping out last week. Due to financial issues, she may not simply transfer to a more affordable school but may be giving up on higher education altogether. Columbia's new stance on financial aid will not alter her situation. Actually, their new, much-touted policies will not give her a single dollar more in aid, because her family's income falls above the determined amount that designates need.

When she got into Columbia, during the time many of us were out buying our new Ivy League sweatshirts, my friend had to face the very real issue of whether or not she could afford the school of her dreams. Due to a mishap with communications, she received her financial aid information and discovered immediately that her family couldn't afford the tuition Columbia did not cover. Speaking to the financial aid office summer before freshman year, she was informed that they would regret if she couldn't make it, but there was no possibility of giving her more money. Conversely, another friend of mine, with similar financial constraints spoke with a different aid adviser and received the much-needed aid.

Despite Columbia's lack of help or even advice, she found a scholarship from her high school in Florida that would give her $25,000 for her sophomore year at an Ivy League institution provided her GPA was higher than a 3.5. So, she came here relying on that money, and borrowed the rest of the money for her tuition for much of her first year. The loan company lost her original correspondence, and soon after the interest rate jumped to 10 percent on student loans. Since her form had been lost and she couldn't prove it, she had to tack on this unexpected rate. Regardless, she arrived and had a 4.0 and then a 3.93 GPA. She figured this would put her straight on track to receive the scholarship she intended to rely on, lessening her debt.

But due to a change in the wording of the scholarship from her high school, she only received $14,000 instead of the $25,000. She turned to our financial aid office that once again told her to borrow the money and pay it off later. Now, for someone looking to become a teacher, the debts she has already accrued are huge, but without the promised scholarship money, they simply didn't become worth it.

She has decided to finish her B.A. at a state school where she will have a complete scholarship and where she won't have to face monstrous debts. Unfortunately, the leading state school in Florida refuses to accept her because the number of transfer credits she has would make her a senior and their university doesn't really want new students who will simply graduate. My friend is left with the options of community college outside her hometown, or state schools who probably just want an excuse to reject someone they would have to give a full scholarship to.

Today, I researched the Columbia Web site to check exactly what they claim about the aid offered to students at the college. "For many students, Columbia can be as affordable, if not more affordable, than a state-college or university education," states our Web site on the first page of its information on financial aid. I'm curious to whom this statement applies.

My friend is in two student plays this term, and wrote one last year. She contributes more to campus life than I can describe. But a change of policy, a bumbling administration, and parents with other worries have left her with no other choice. She writes beautifully, sings well, and deserves to feel that she is worth more than a piece of litter slipping through a system more concerned with turning out a profit than educating our youth.

Columbia College, which claims to be above simple money-making desires, and which claims to truly work for diversity, must realize that a financial aid system that is truly effective must actually work on a case-by-case basis. There is more to an individual's circumstance than a tax return, and I used to believe that there was more to a college education than dollar signs. I'd really love to still think there is.

If anyone has any brilliant ideas, connections to the financial office, or an extra $50,000, let me know.