By Jaasmin Foote//Financial loan debt—a college student’s worst nightmare; however Hood’s Financial Aid and Accounting staff says that if students plan efficiently, they can sleep better at night knowing that their financial burdens will be lessened.

According to the team in the Financial Aid Office, four percent of students that have taken out loans have defaulted at Hood College in the last three years. The workers in both offices pride themselves on empathizing with students and helping fight a problem recognized nationwide as the student debt crisis: “We’re here for students,” said Yvette Rood, one of Hood’s Financial Aid Counselors. “We love talking to them about debt and avoiding it. We’re always open to questions, and we invite all students to call us or stop by.”

The Root of Debt

The employees insist that the process of reducing debt on a college level begins in high school. Susan Erb, Associate Director of Financial Aid, and Rood agreed that students should strive to maintain high grade point averages in order to potentially receive merit scholarships in the future. They also recommended that high-schoolers should ask their advisors if their institution allows juniors and seniors to take classes at a community college that will count as credits toward their degree. Hood’s Center of Academic Achievement & Retention (CAAR) features a program called the Hood Start, which allows high school students to get a feel for college life as well as the work load.

Erb and Rood said that students shouldn’t play victim—the road to reducing debt is a two-way street. Erb said “we’ve developed into a society of spoon feeding [where some students expect to receive free money], but they don’t follow through with the information given to them.”

She also noted the “lack of financial literacy” taught in high schools keeps many students in the dark, but it’s “it’s the student’s responsibility to say they don’t understand something before proceeding.” She said she understands how complicated the Federal Application for Free Student Aid (FAFSA) paperwork can be, but filling out the application is the fundamental step to receive free money for school. She said there are many types of aid available such as Pell Grants, scholarships, work study, and more.

Erb also said there are a ton of resources available to struggling students like https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/index.action which includes pamphlets and a glossary and list of terms that students may not understand.

The Big Bad Entrance Counseling

Students who have received loans for college are familiar with entrance counseling; however some students may be unfamiliar with exit counseling. Erb noted both are crucial because the entrance counseling helps the student understand loans while he’s school, and the exit counseling reminds the student of the loan as well as the interest accrued by the time he graduates. She also said that it’s a good way for students to refresh their memory to see who their loan servicers are.

Erb said that in the future, Hood is returning to a group setting for financial counseling. Although she wants to make the program mandatory, Erb said she cannot force students to attend by law, but she encourages them to come. “The attendance is historically low because students figure they can do it alone, but they’re wrong,” Erb said. “There are shy students [who stay away but] don’t grasp how important it is.”

Erb and Rood said that the entrance counseling isn’t as difficult as students make it: “The problem is a lot of students put off reading the information and just sign it,” Rood said. “They say they’ll go back to it later, but they never do. You have to read before you sign your life away.”

The women said when students actually read the information during the counseling, they’ll see that there is a help button inside, and if that doesn’t help, they can stop the session and come to the Financial Aid Office to get clarification.

Erb said that exit counseling is mandatory for Hood’s graduating seniors. She noted that her office will place a stop on the students’ accounts and they will not be able to access their transcripts until it is completed. She said that seniors should expect exit cousneling their packets by April.

Finding Your Way

Rood suggests that students should “keep an open mind” when shopping around for an institution and when making the decision, the student should “keep in mind how much he wants to fork out.”

Shauwney Anderson, Hood’s Accounting counselor, said the leading problem she’s observed in students applying for college [especially Hood] is that “they don’t look at it in a realistic way,” she said. “They have to look at how much it will cost, and if they find it will be too much, they should seek enrollment elsewhere.”

Anderson noted that of the 540 students that enrolled in the payment plan this year, their parents paid 95 percent of the payment plans. Erb said that “some parents [even] help [their kids] pay off their loans, but not every family is like that.”

“I recommend that students do whatever possible to pay their balances [including work if they can],” said Anderson. “Every little bit helps— even work study. I’m a student myself, and I do it.”

Anderson also noted that that some students create bigger problems for themselves once they get into college by trying to “put off the inevitable.” She said that some students “knowingly set-up payment plans on their accounts with past due balances, but if the money isn’t paid at the end of the semester, the student can face late charges and his transcripts will be held until the balance is paid.” She also said that some students “borrow money for the upcoming semester and apply it to the current one, but they end up falling short.”

To Go to Grad School or Not to Go to Grad School. That is the Question.  

Jill Hermes, Director of Hood’s Career Center and Office of Service Learning, said many students that she’s encountered have been molded to adopt the one-size fits all notion. She said she is pro-grad school, but thinks the student should consider that students have different needs: “It depends on the individual,” she said. “After all, you are adding to your debt. You should get [the first one] under control first, if you can, then pick up another.”

Rood said a detrimental mistake that she’s witnessed in students considering graduate school is that students don’t ask themselves “Is this reasonable,” she said. “Do I absolutely need to go to graduate school for my job field? How much debt am I willing to take on?”

Erb said “it’s not a good or bad thing to wait for grad school.” “It’s a personal decision,” she said. “It’s easy for some people to stay in school [because] they’re used to the routine. [Also] a lot of students aren’t finding jobs in their fields, so they continue to search for jobs while attending grad school. Others take a year off to travel or get to know themselves. Others work to save for grad school. I think that working while in school can get your feet wet and prepare you for what’s expected of you in the real world, but not everyone can handle that pressure.”

    Some students at Hood who asked to remain anonymous said they are not going to graduate school in order to avoid additional debt, but senior, Evan Reed, said that wouldn’t stop him from continuing his education. “We have to take out huge loans, and then we struggle in the job market to pay off the debt,” Reed said. “It’s kind of messed up. I’m going to an art institute after I graduate, so it’s like another Associate’s Degree. But I’m going to have to take out more loans.”

Tips to Send You on Your Way

Anderson said: “Student debt is no joke. You should try to get outside scholarships, grants [or any form of free money]. Banks want you to get credit cards when you start school, but you have to have an income [which most students don’t]. You can’t lose sight that this is money you have to pay back. There are a lot of organizations willing to donate the cost— but you have to look for it, it’s not just given to you.”

Rood pointed out the “biggest scam in the book” that fake organizations use to prey on naive students: “Don’t ever pay someone to look for scholarships for you,” she said. “It may take a while to complete the applications and get letters of recommendations, but you don’t have to pay scholarships and grants back. The key is to plan ahead—I suggest you give yourself at least a year in advance. Frederick is a wonderful resource for local scholarships.  Make yourself aware.”

Although some of the information may be useful on https://www.fafsa.com, the staff says students should remember that the official FAFSA website is https://fafsa.ed.gov and they should always verify information found on this site only.

Erb noted that communication is key when a student is combating debt. “We can’t help if we don’t know,” Erb said. “We have a lot of resources available, but a lot of students shy away from our office because they don’t understand that the information is confidential. Nothing leaves these four walls, and once students understand that, they feel more comfortable talking about their financial situations.”​