Last winter, Kimberly Grindle saw a counselor for the first time.

‘My anxiety was such a level that I was making myself sick,’ she said. ‘I just had been getting broken down every day.’

Grindle developed problems with anxiety when she realized how much debt she had accumulated — about $17,000 — while attending three semesters at Emerson College. Though financial aid had covered about 60 percent of her tuition, Grindle expected to pay $7,000 a semester, in addition to personal expenses. Even working 20 hours a week during the academic year wasn’t enough to cover her costs.

While financial aid packages usually do not decrease for returning students, the rising costs of attending college are making it more difficult for some students to stay in one institution for four full years. Students at Syracuse University have been faced with a similar situation with a four percent increase in the cost of attending, but the university has taken measures that other colleges could not to provide steady financial aid for students.

Kaye DeVesty, director of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Programs at SU, said the university is continuing to provide strong financial aid packages for the approximately 80 percent of students who receive them.

‘We want to see students attend here from their freshman to their senior year,’ she said.

While students at SU may have had to transfer because of financial reasons, DeVesty said, budget cuts have not affected SU financial aid packages yet.

Students like Grindle, who cannot afford to pay the rising cost of tuition, have been forced to transfer to cheaper institutions, such as community colleges or state universities.

‘I was going to school and getting my degree, but after school, I’d have nothing in the bank,’ Grindle said, adding she called home every day in tears before finally deciding to transfer to the New England School of Communications.

It is an extremely difficult time for all schools, whether they’re private or public institutions, said Ross Rubenstein, associate professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

‘You’ve got increasing costs and, in many cases, revenues on the decline,’ Rubenstein said. ‘It’s definitely a tough position.’

Fortunately for students, budget shortfalls rarely affect their financial aid packages, said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com, websites that provide financial aid information to students.

Though there is more pressure on the budgets,for financial aid packages, ‘most colleges don’t have a difference — or very large ones,’ Kantrowitz said. ‘They’re doing everything they can before touching the student budget.’

But students’ financial aid budgets are also being spread out because of a 20 percent growth in demand from families who need financial aid, Kantrowitz said.

Staren Bielinski, a former student at San Francisco State University, said her tuition would have nearly tripled if she had not transferred in her junior year.

‘I thought my college fund would last longer, but the tuition and housing was ridiculous,’ she said.

When she met with a financial aid advisor, she was told she would have to wait another year for her situation to be re-evaluated and to be considered for more financial aid.

A year later, she found herself filling out transfer applications to Binghamton University, the University of Maryland and the State University of New York at Buffalo. She chose to attend Binghamton after realizing it would be a fraction of what she was paying at San Francisco State because she would not be paying out-of-state tuition.

More students are forced to consider if their out-of-pocket costs — the difference between the cost of attendance and their grants and scholarships — are worth the degree at their particular schools, Kantrowitz said.

‘What we’re seeing is an increase in the out-of-pocket costs for all students,’ Kantrowitz said. This makes it difficult for students to afford an education, he said.

Transfer students usually do not get as much need-based financial aid as those who are regularly enrolled in the same institution, Kantrowitz said. Even so, transferring from a more expensive school to a less expensive school is a better idea for struggling families who want to decrease out-of-pocket costs, he said.

Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, said SU is one of the institutions that have made specific appeals for donations to support need-based aid.

‘That’s a very wise and targeted way of dealing with it,’ Nassirian said.

Nassirian was referring to Syracuse Responds, an emergency effort in spring 2009 that raised funds for financial aid. Although Syracuse Responds only lasted one semester, it helped 426 students who may not have been able to return to campus otherwise, DeVesty said.

‘It was a push for us to help students during that spring,’ DeVesty said. ‘We are very committed to students whose circumstances have changed from one year to the next.’

Some responsibility also lies with the students and their families, DeVesty said. Students have to be aware that choosing a college is a long-term commitment they make with the university, she said. They should examine the total costs of attending college for four years before making a decision, she said.

‘You didn’t make the commitment for one year. You had to make the commitment for four years,’ she said. ‘It’s not only the financial aid you receive, but it’s how you budget across the four years, or your particular academic years.’

Dalan Dinh, a former SU student who is no stranger to dealing with financial aid struggles, agreed. Dinh transferred twice after leaving SU, first to American River College and then to University of California, Riverside, where she is currently receiving full financial aid.

‘No one is the victim to how much you pay for school,’ Dinh said. ‘That’s a choice you make of where you go.’

Although SU was her first choice, Dinh said only 10 percent of her cost was supported by financial aid. She made the decision to transfer to a state school because even if UC Riverside had only covered half of her tuition, she would have still paid 75 percent less than what she was paying at SU.

She said, ‘It shows you the reality of the difference between a private university and a state school.’

shkim11@syr.edu

Published on September 6, 2010 at 12:00 pm