More local students need financial aid

The senior psychology major also knew paying for college was going to be tough and jumped at the opportunity to participate in a federal work-study program.

“They work around your school schedule. You don’t have to work nights or weekends. They work with you so you can put school first,” she said.

According to federal law, hours are set by the amount each student receives.

Serigne earns minimum wage, like most other students working their way through college, but also receives financial aid through the program, which she uses to pay for books and other classroom essentials.

“It’s really beneficial to me and would be beneficial to any student,” she said.

Serigne, who is also on scholarship and receives a Pell Grant, said she would have had to work a different part-time job to help pay for school if she weren’t in the work-study program.

“I would have had to work nights or weekends, which would have cut into my study time. It would have definitely taken me longer to get through school, longer to graduate,” she said.

A national focus has turned toward students from low-income families, like Serigne, who rely heavily upon financial assistance from Pell Grants and work-study programs.

In January, education officials met at the White House Education Summit to promote greater access and success for low-income students of all races. Officials pledged to increase the proportion of students eligible for Pell Grants and create new mentoring programs or new high school outreach programs.

According to a 2013 report released by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, low-income students are choosing universities based upon cost of attendance, expenditures per student, selectivity and financial-aid policies.

The number of students who are eligible for Pell Grants at Nicholls has risen over the last five years. In 2010, 37 percent of Nicholls’ students were eligible. Enrollment Services Director Courtney Cassard estimates the number is a little more than 40 percent this year.

According to finaid.org, more than two-thirds of Pell Grant recipients have family income at or below 150-percent of the poverty line.

Lafourche and Terrebonne are below the statewide 18.7-percent average poverty line, while Assumption is one-tenth of a percentage point higher, according to recent Census data. St. Mary Parish is at 20 percent.

It’s becoming harder for low-income families to afford college. Universities are relying more and more on tuition and fees for revenue as federal and state money continues to decline.

This fall semester at Nicholls State University, in-state students will pay $3,617 in tuition and fees, a 13 percent increase from last year, and out-of-state students will pay $8,740, a 10 percent increase.

“In Louisiana, we’re in a unique situation in that our management boards don’t have authority to raise tuition and we’ve seen increases for the last four or five years. While I think that’s more challenging, where there’s a will there’s a way. We can usually find a way to help low-income students,” Cassard said.

As part of Louisiana College Application Month, Nicholls will be sending out representatives to help students fill out college applications in advance. By beginning the process now, Cassard said, officials can identify financial-aid needs.

Nicholls offers several need-based scholarships for low-income students, Cassard said.

The university also provides financial aid counseling and holds events aimed at promoting financial-aid awareness, she said.

Graduating students last year owed an average of $30,069 in student loans, higher than the nationwide average of $29,400, according to a College Access and Success study.

Nicholls’ tuition and fees are some of the highest in the state among four-year universities, a problem the university’s president, Bruce Murphy, recognized during his annual State of the University speech in August.

Making Nicholls more cost-effective for students, Murphy said, is a priority moving forward.

At Fletcher Technical Community College, an estimated 85 percent of the student population is eligible for Pell Grants, according to spokeswoman Jessica Thornton.

Aside from Pell Grants, the two-year technical college offers work study as well as other federal and local scholarships.

“More than half of our students are on some type of aid,” said Fletcher Financial Aid Director Derrick Procell.

Staff Writer Jacob Batte can be reached at 448-7635 or jacob.batte@dailycomet.com. Follow him on Twitter @ja_batte.

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