College and scholarships are two words usually uttered together, but with the average college debt for a bachelor’s degree at roughly $12,000 according to the College Board, most students do not have enough scholarships to cover the cost of attending college.
Joe McPeak, senior, business administration, said he expects to graduate with about $25,000 in school loans.
He originally started at the University of Missouri-St. Louis six years ago in the Honors College with a $2,500 per semester scholarship. After two years at the Honors College, McPeak took a year off school.
When returned to UM-St. Louis he did not apply for scholarships because his grade point average had slipped below a 3.2, so he figured he would not qualify. Currently, his financial aid consists of a $1,500 grant and student loans.
“I didn’t know how to go about it. I have a friend who pays for college; he goes around and gets all these scholarships. I am the first person in my family to go to college, so I didn’t really have a lot of guidance in that area,” McPeak said.
He plans to pay off his student loans over the summer by his work for College Works Painting, an internship organization. Anthony Georges, director of Student Financial Aid said that it is important for families to understand the financial aid process.
“No one can guarantee you that you will get a scholarship. But if I did all that, I would know when I put my head on my pillow at night that I had done all I could.” Georges said.
However, due to the relatively lower tuition at public colleges compared with private colleges, attending a public university even without a scholarship can sometimes still be a feasible option. According to the College Board, the average annual cost of a private four year college is just over $26,000 and $7,000 for a public college.
Despite the higher cost of private colleges, Kelly Small, freshman, business, said that because she received scholarships from private colleges but did not receive a scholarship from UM-St. Louis, the cost of attendance was about the same.
“When other schools gave scholarships, it brought the tuition down to that of UMSL” Small said.
Missouri state public colleges and universities have also entered into an agreement with the Missouri Department of Higher Education not to raise tuition as long as state funding is frozen.
According to the UM-St. Louis website, in 2008 UM-St. Louis awarded $36,119,972 in financial aid and scholarships.
Jason Bornhop, director of scholarships, said that he receives an estimated 4000-5000 scholarship applications a year, which is approximately 25-30 percent of the annual number of applicants to UM-St. Louis.
For those hoping to receive a scholarship, “Apply early and often,” Bornhop said.
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