| Welcome!
My name is Karen Kelly, and I am the founder of
Starving Student Scholarships. I built
this site because I've been whining to anyone who would listen about how
terrible the student financial aid system is in America. I don't like
whiners. In fact, I regularly counsel whiners to get off their
rears and take some action. So, in the hope that I can make even
a little bit of a difference, I built this website.
I know from experience that many deserving students don't receive
any--or enough-- college financial aid, including scholarship money. And many resort to credit cards just to
pay rent and buy their books. I believe that most students don't need
another hokey article on how to budget money they don't have. What they
need is cash, food, books, and loads of encouragement.
While many communities, schools and businesses do offer a scholarship, only one or a few students
benefit. I believe that any student who gets into college is a winner.
Any student who stays in college, is a champion. And any student who
graduates, is my hero.
You
can even wear your pajamas to the award ceremony!
I also believe that there are a lot of people out there who would be
happy to help these students with some scholarship money. This website gives anyone the opportunity to offer
a scholarship to an individual student. You get to be the entire
committee and you don't even have to buy the donuts, or argue with
anybody at a meeting. You can even wear your pajamas to the award
ceremony. And you can give as little as $1.
I am terribly disappointed with the media's lack of understanding of
the credit card debt that most students carry. It seems to me that
a good reporter would have dug a little deeper into why a
college student runs up credit card debt--a student who was obviously
responsible enough to have graduated from high school (no small feat
these days), and who has gotten themselves admitted to a college (also
no small feat). I'm tired of the insinuations that the college
students are somehow stupid, irresponsible, and in need of budget
counseling.
A
good reporter would have dug a little deeper into why a
college student runs up credit card debt.
Believe me, anyone who can survive on a student's
budget, can probably teach the budget counselors a thing or two.
Nobody seems to have linked a student's need to
use credit cards with the fact that they can't get a scholarship or enough
student financial aid. And when they do, it's weeks or months after
classes have begun. And it's not nearly enough. Even if you
ask for the maximum. Including any student loan anyone will give
you.
If a student is lucky enough to qualify for any
federal financial aid, they usually don't receive any of the money until the
middle or even the end of the semester or quarter. Most student financial
aid payments, including federal student loan payments, are doled out in 2 payments--one
mid-way through the semester, and one at the end of the
semester.
Students will lose all student financial aid if they don't
somehow find a way to buy their textbooks in time for that first class,
and make satisfactory progress. And if they don't attend all of
their classes, they can lose their college financial aid because of lack of
attendance.
According
to a 2002 study by the National Center for Education Statistics on
nontraditional undergraduates, 73% of the college students in the U.S.
are supporting themselves and their families while attending college.
Most financial aid requires full-time
attendance. Full-time attendance is normally at least 12 units
(either semester or quarter). Each unit is supposed to be equivalent
to one hour of classroom time. Therefore, a full-time student is in
class 12 hours/week. To get an average grade (C), it is recommended
that a student study 2 hours for every 1 hour of classroom time. So,
to get a C average, a student would be in class 12 hours/week, plus
studying 24 hours/week. That's 36 hours/week, not including travel
time, etc., just to get a C average.
A study by Ohio State University determined that in
order for a student to raise his or her grade by one letter (from a C to a
B), he/she would need to study an additional 40 hours/week. You can
read about that study here.
So, to get a B average in college, according to this study, a student
would either be in a classroom or studying 76 hours/week. To get
A's, the number rises to 116 hours/week. (I have devised some GPA
shortcuts, which you can read on the Guerilla
College and Financial Aid Tactics for Students and Parents page.)
Somehow students are supposed to pay rent, buy food,
buy textbooks, attend college full-time, get an enormous amount of homework done, and...if
they make too much money at the job they obviously need to get while
also accomplishing all of the above--they won't qualify for any federal financial aid
services the following year.
Yes. You understood me correctly.
Students can actually lose their college financial aid if they work. But
not for being in debt.
Or, their parents supposedly make too much
money--and even though their parents haven't supported them in years,
they must report and use their parents' income to determine their
student financial aid, which usually means they get denied. And they still
don't have any of the money the college said they had too much of.
Get a student loan? A student loan is based on the same
financial aid guidelines. There is a maximum amount a student can
borrow for any particular college, which is supposedly what it costs to
attend that college. No matter what amount of loan debt a student
is willing to take on, just to be able to live and attend school, the maximum any student
can borrow is usually barely enough money to pay for tuition and
books.
Most
students receive their financial aid in 2 installments. One at the
middle of the semester and one at the end of the semester. They
must, basically, find a way to pay for everything themselves, and wait to
be reimbursed.
And you receive the student loan money at the same time the other
student financial aid money is doled out. That's right. Even if a
student takes out a student loan, he/she will probably only get half of
the money mid-way through a semester, and half at the end of the
semester.
Colleges are under so much pressure to keep their
student loan default rates down, that they have developed policies that
actually cause students to have to drop out because they can't get their
money in a timely fashion. If they drop out before getting their
money, the college's default rate stays low. The college stays out
of trouble. And the student is no longer the priority.
Now, what on earth is a student supposed to do?
Scholarship? I believe you have better odds
at winning the lottery, unless you're the next Einstein.
Scholarship applications take an enormous amount of time, and most
require letters of recommendation, but they won't accept a copy of
a letter of recommendation. And the letter of recommendation must
be sealed and mailed separately, and signed by the letter-writer across
the seal on the back. Please. After I asked my references to
do this two or three times for me--with zero luck--I decided I better
give up on the scholarship idea, and save my references for the college application and quit bugging them.
If
students have to drop out before getting their
money, the college's default rate stays low. The college stays out
of trouble. And the student is no longer the priority.
So, there's not much choice here for a student who
isn't independently wealthy, or being supported by their family.
And only about 27% of college students fit into this category.
That means about 73% of the college students in
America are suffering the above scenario. According to the 2000
U.S. census, there are
approximately 14.4 million undergraduates and 3.1 million graduate
school students in the U.S. What that
says to me, is that there are a lot of incredibly determined young
people in this country-- determined to do nearly anything to get that
education.
When I hear about America's youth going to hell in
a hand basket--I beg to differ. Over 10 million of them are
putting themselves through college.
It's time to give them a hand and quit slapping
them across the face with all of the media nonsense about teaching these
incredible human beings about budgeting. These people are miracle
workers and it's about time somebody stood up and cheered!
When I hear about America's youth going to hell in
a hand basket--I beg to differ. Over 10 million of them are
putting themselves through college.
What these students need is somebody to help them
change these outrageous financial aid policies. The students are
too busy trying to work, go to school and not default on their student
loan and
credit cards. A change of this magnitude will take a lot of effort
and a lot of time.
And these students need help now.
My hope is that some of you who read this will be
able to make a difference. Either by helping to change these
policies, or by simply giving a hand to a student with a few
dollars. At the very least, tell any college students you know
that you think they're doing a hell of a job just staying
enrolled. Please don't harangue them about their grade point
average, if they're just barely surviving. A degree is a degree
for the most part.
Q:
What do you call a medical school graduate with only a C average?
A:
Doctor.
I am a starving law student and paying for this
site with a credit card at about 29% interest that I shouldn't be
using. I am far too busy trying to survive my first year of law
school and find a job (no federal student loan money is available for
the poor-people correspondence law school option),
to try and change our government or college financial aid
policies. I'm doing my part by building and keeping this website up and
running. I'd appreciate any little bit you can donate to help me
pay for it. I've charged up a lot of software, hosting services
and spent many hours of my "free" time. Even a dollar would be great. If you
would like to help out, you can do so through my student ad.
If you're a student, the best of luck to you.
If you're a sponsor, God Bless You!
And if you're the one who picks up this ball and
runs with it...well, there are about 17 million students who could
just kiss you.
Karen
Kelly
Founder,
Starving Student Scholarships
--and
starving middle-aged first-year law student
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