On August 5th, students received an e-mail from President Teresa Sullivan informing us of a change to the AccessUVA financial-aid program. What caught my eye first and foremost?: “The program change will not affect any current students or entering students in 2013”. Phew—that’s a worry off my mind.
While I do not personally have to worry about my own financial aid changing, this is still a serious issue that all students should worry about. Student loans are through the roof, and while I was fortunate enough to be able to come to the University of Virginia as an out of state student because of this generous financial program, it is now morphing into a different kind of animal.
What do the changes entail? Well, while Sullivan stresses that the program will continue to meet 100 percent of demonstrated aid, no longer will the majority of this need be met with grants, but with loans. In addition, there is now a cap on the amount of loans that a student can receive; the actual figure totaling $28,000 over a four-year period. For in-state students this cap is $14,000. Previously, AccessUVA promised to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need of students who are below 200% of the poverty line with only grants, no loans.
Why did these changes happen? Well, school got more expensive. In addition to this rise in cost, more students need aid (a change from ¼ of the student body to 1/3 over the past academic year), and sources of aid have declined since federal funding has decreased or flat-lined. The aid that goes into AccessUVA comes from a combination of philanthropy, federal grants and loans, state grants, and private outside scholarships. As Federal aid decreases and these other sources do not rise, the program is under-funded and therefore not really as effective. Elizabeth, a fourth-year, agrees with the unfortunate nature of the situation, but thinks that the issue does not lie within UVA itself, but that “We need to petition the governor to increase state funding for UVA, considering that we are only currently receiving about 5% of funding from the state.”
September 19th a petition which was signed by 8,000 people was delivered to the Board of Visitors during their quarterly board meeting. Friday, September 20th, a group of these dedicated petitioners gathered outside of the Rotunda to vocalize their concerns, in addition to their written letter. Stephanie Montenegro, a fourth-year, is the head correspondent for this group. She explained that when talking to the Board of Visitors they raised the concern that “this cut will decrease the amount of minorities and diversity within the university, to which the BOV responded that they will ‘wait and see’”. When asked if this was the appropriate venue (petitioning the Board of Visitors and not the governor) Stephanie explained that while they understand there needed to be changes, the BOV believes this “this is the best solution. But it effects the lowest of the low, and while it may not effect us currently, we as students have our priorities straight and the Board of Visitors need to reevaluate theirs”.
Federal aid is not just decreasing within AccessUVA. It is a nation-wide issue that students can no longer afford the costs of school, and even when they receive the aid they need, students graduate from school with exorbitant loans which take years to pay back (especially when working with a post-grad salary). AccessUVA is considered one of the best financial aid systems in the country—so what does this leave for students of other institutions?
UVA prides itself on the fact that students graduate with considerably little debt when compared to other institutions. The average amount of debt of an out-of-state student in 2012? $11,700. This amount is to be prided on. I appreciate the efforts of the University to help with the cost of schooling, and I understand that the AccessUVA program has become unsustainable with the current economic climate. But if this is the best economic situation we can hope for, what does this mean for the future of education? Or even the current situation for the rest of the country?