Picture this: Sonya, a low-income student at a California high school, receives an acceptance letter from the University of Hawaii. While the tuition is higher than a public university in California, she decides to go to Hawaii, even though it means that both Sonya — not her real name — and her mother would have to take out loans. After two semesters of lackluster grades, Sonya loses her merit-based aid and has a hold on her student account (also known as a bursar’s account) due to an outstanding balance because of a lack of payment, so her transcript cannot be released to transfer her credits. She is now in debt, out of school and stuck.
With some financial guidance, Sonya could have been facing much better prospects.
There are many reasons low-income students don’t get a degree — on average, just 9 percent of low-income students graduate college by age 24. Many of those reasons are related to finances, including attending a school they can’t afford or needing to take a job to afford college, which can detract from their focus on their studies.
[For more on this story by MELISSA FRIES, go to https://edsource.org/2018/fina...llege-success/594361]
Comments (1)