As a new member of the Mustang family this year, it is sometimes difficult to grasp the new found responsibilities of college life. Being away from family and friends back home is always tough, but the unconditional love and companionship that Mustangs share makes the homely feeling arise. Though this campus is beautiful and like no other, we too must check back into reality. In these tough economic times, it is becoming more and more difficult to stay afloat nevertheless dish out more bucks. According to University wide released documents, Tuition and costs are on the rise.
Here at SMU the vast majority of students are on some sort of financial aid whether it be scholarships, grants, or even work-study. Despite the many efforts put forth by the University I find myself still worrying about how I'm going to get books for my Spring semester classes. I accepted all of my financial aid offered and still find that I'm at my wits end when it comes to how I would ever be able to pay for SMU alone.
Though the University offers a variety of aid, I feel that it would be in many students best interest to offer more aid to cover the costs of books. This past week my parents had to dish out almost $1000 for books alone, not to mention that I still owe money for tuition. Its crunch time now and I know that SMU can definitely do more to aid their students in the finance department. Not to mention the fact that if we students receive outside scholarships they are deducted from the aid SMU gives us, which puts many families in a bind.
Something has to be done to inform University officials of the situation this rise in costs will put some students in, and I definitely believe that we are the ones to show them. Writing letters and e-mails, or even scheduling appointments to meet with the university officials is just a start. We need to make a move.
It is amazing that every year, SMU students just accept the fact that our our already excruciatingly high tuition costs, go up significantly. I am from California and when the UC tuition increases were announced earlier this school year, there was a massive uproar among students, but not here. I'm not sure if its because we are at a private school that is expected to be expected or what, but no one seemed to care when those letters were sent home and put into our mailboxes. I am also struggling to afford this school and SMU did not offer me any scholarships, just loans, so any increase in the expenses worries me. I agree completely that we need to stand up for ourselves and speak out against the rising tuition costs or soon enough, I won't be able to afford going here at all.
ReplyDeleteI definitely know what you mean. Even with a small scholarship, grant, and loans I still owed money because none of it covered my Spring semester tuition. I too find it unusual that not many students are speaking out against the tuition fluctuation. It's sad though, that many of us here on our own dime are being put at such a discomfort level that families are having to come together and reevaluate their expenses regarding this higher education institute.
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