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University offers relief options for financial insecurity

As students settle into the spring semester of college, some may realize the financial burden of their college education extends far past the final tuition payment—students at Oklahoma Christian University are no exception.

An article from The Century Foundation said students often face unexpected expenses as they begin their time at a university. It lists textbooks and other living expenses as costs, which can be difficult for students to afford.

The same article said the burden of trying to pay for higher education forces some students to put a lot of time and effort into a job. They said this attempt to balance work and school can lead to incomplete degrees and missed classes.

Associate Director for Financial Services Carrie Hamilton said Oklahoma Christian students have opportunities for institutional scholarships, federal grants and student loans to help pay for their college tuition.

“OC offers institutional scholarships for students and it’s awarded when they come in as a freshman or when they come in as a transfer student,” Hamilton said. “It’s based on their academic history, which would be their ACT or SAT score and then their high school GPA.”

Although Hamilton said institutional scholarships cannot necessarily cover extra costs and living expenses, she said federal aid can take on that role. She said the financial services office uses social media platforms to help make incoming students aware of non-obvious scholarships. Hamilton also said some high school extracurricular activities even provide opportunities for college scholarships.

“We also encourage students to apply for outside scholarships,” Hamilton said. “We weed through those and only post information of what we consider legitimate scholarships that students can apply for.”

A New York Times article claimed the price of a college education is increasing even as most American individuals’ income decreases. Despite the high cost, the article said students see a university degree as necessary in order to secure future stability, because it generally creates more employment options post-graduation.

The article said this higher cost of a college education can be a distraction for students, and interfere with their ability to learn and pay for basic living expenses, such as groceries.

A study, which investigated food and housing insecurity at universities, found about half of the more than 30,000 students who participated to be food insecure. It said most of the individuals both work and receive financial aid in order to afford basic necessities.

According to UDining Regional Manager Kurt Hermanson, at the beginning of each semester the campus dining company usually hears about a few students who struggle to afford a meal plan on campus. Because of this need, he said UDining partners with Oklahoma Christian to provide five full meal plan scholarships every semester.

“If there are students that are struggling to pay for college, or a meal plan kind of puts them over the edge, the school will use those meal plan scholarships to help those students,” Hermanson said. “It may be the difference between if they come or not come kind of thing, so we offer that. We’ve done quite a few of the scholarships.”

Dean of Student Life Neil Arter said he has interacted with a lot of students on campus over the last 27 years and has seen many different needs during that time. He said the university’s alumni are generally quick to step in and help meet the needs of current students.

“Whenever I run across a student that has a financial need that’s outside of our normal needs, I start just kind of turning my head and looking almost as if to say, ‘Okay Lord, who’s coming my way?’” Arter said. “Now that my awareness is heightened, I’ll be able to see that the Lord is putting someone in our path, so I feel pretty blessed to watch that happen from time to time.“

Arter said another way Oklahoma Christian attempts to accommodate students’ financial needs is by offering work study opportunities on campus. He said the university rearranges student-worker positions on campus each year in order to give students plenty of options, which fit their schedule’s availability.

“By taking those jobs and putting them where they’re needed, we were making sure that more and more students had access to [jobs],” Arter said. “I think we are maximizing [work study] at this point, which is really good for students.”

In addition to providing a few scholarships, Hermanson said UDining employs 80 to 100 students each semester—some are work study students and some are not. He said these employees can use their paycheck to cover extra expenses they may acquire while at school.

“For the students that don’t have a lot of spending money, it’s a great place for them to come work,” Hermanson said. “We can work around their class schedules, their club schedules and everything else and kind of fit them into our schedule. It kind of helps us both.”

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