An increase in ASU students receiving financial aid highlights the need for more staffing in the financial assistance office and an increase in office hours, University officials and student leaders said.
ASU has worked diligently to improve its financial aid services but there is still more to be done, Undergraduate Student Government President Brendan O’Kelly said Wednesday.
Developing 24-hour financial aid assistance for the beginning of the semester is necessary, he said. A staffing increase is especially needed at peak times so students don’t spend hours on hold waiting for the financial aid office to answer their questions, he said.
The University is working to have as many financial aid options as possible, President Michael Crow said in a meeting with The State Press editorial board on Sept. 10. ASU is trying to address the problems of response times regarding financial aid, he said.
“We work diligently to make certain that no one is left behind,” Crow said.
ASU has already seen an 873 percent increase in low-income freshman enrollment from 2003 to 2008, according to a fall-enrollment press release. Statistics will not be available for fall 2009 until December.
Crow said the new President Barack Obama Scholars Program, which offers financial assistance to more than 1,200 freshmen, is one part of the goal to expand financial aid to assist low-income students.
Also, in-state ASU students graduate with less average debt than most institutions in the country, Crow said.
ASU awarded $519 million in financial aid last year, according to the financial aid report. More than 94,000 students at ASU received aid in the form of grants, scholarships, loans and employment. More than 11,000 of those students had a family income of less than $65,000, according to the report.
Graphic design freshman Mayra Felix said financial aid from ASU allowed her to attend college without relying on student loans.
“I would have had to borrow subsidized loans for $3,000,” she said.
Felix received $5,000 in grants from ASU this semester, a portion of that from the Obama Scholars program, she said.
Vice President of Policy for USG Rudi O’Keefe-Zelman said state legislators need to see the importance of financial aid for students.
“If you want to go to college and you want to work hard then you shouldn’t be left out,” O’Keefe-Zelman said.
Reach the reporter at rvanvelz@asu.edu.
