Yifei Jiang
Contributor
It costs $24,912 for out-of-state undergraduate students to attend Troy University solely for tuition for one year. According to the 2018-2019 tuition and fees posted on Troy University’s website. If students take summer classes, it would cost them $37,368 every year.
For Troy University students who have a fixed income, it is a large amount of money; therefore, the opportunity for loans gives these students a chance to enjoy quality campus life.
“The university loans are very useful,” Madelaine Worley said. “These can effectively alleviate the financial burden on my family.”
Madelaine’s major is elementary education, and she has music and education scholarships. Her loans are lot loans, which she learned about through online resources when she applied for a college student loan. She said that she will restrict her spending and not borrow more money than she needs in order to be financially responsible.
“The main reason I applied for the loan is to pay for my tuition, and I also have a scholarship,” Worley said. “So the amount of my loan is very small, and it will not take an abundant amount of years to repay all my loans.”
Raven Eller is a criminal justice student who has a Troy University Leadership Scholarship. She applied with an essay and was offered $3,000. She said she loves her scholarship, although it barely covers her leadership class cost.
“It will take nearly my whole life to repay my loans, and I worry about it a lot,” Eller said.
Eller applied for unsubsidized loans as well, and the loans she has borrowed add up to $20,000. The benefit of unsubsidized loans is that applicants do not need proof of funding requirements, and both undergraduate and graduate students can borrow up to $31,000.
However, the applicant must pay the loan interest from the first day of receipt of the loan. If the loan is not repaid on time, the interest will be continuously added to the total amount of the repayment. Eller said that university students (whether undergraduate or graduate students) must apply for loans on the formal college loan platform.
“My parents pay all my tuition,” Mary Brunson said.
Brunson’s major is communication studies with a minor in public relations. She has neither a scholarship nor a college loan. Brunson said that college loans may seem to be a good thing, but in fact, if a student applies for a loan, that student has to spend time each week to work to make money and repay the loan.
In this case, students who need to repay the loan have less time to participate in campus activities. More importantly, the amount that the student applies for must be within the range that he or she can afford. If a student borrows a loan to buy a luxury item, the student may be more likely to borrow money from friends and financial institutions later, Brunson said. In the long run, this student will have no credit between the bank and classmates, which could cause a lot of trouble.
Akaren Blanchard, like Brunson, has neither a scholarship nor a college loan. However, the main reason why she did not apply for a scholarship is that she will go to Europe to study in October next year. She is an undergraduate student in Troy’s nursing program.
“If I don’t go to Europe, I will apply for a scholarship,” Blanchard said. “But I will not apply for a college loan.”
Blanchard chose scholarships instead of loans for the following reasons: First, her parents can afford her tuition, so she does not need to apply for a loan, and the process of applying for a loan is complicated. Second, if Blanchard wants to get a scholarship to pay part of the tuition, she only needs to study hard and keep her good grades; however, repaying the loan is not as easy as maintaining the grade.
Yin Li is an international exchange student and she has a scholarship but no loan.
“I know that tuition in the U.S. is not a small amount for an international exchange student,” Li said. “But fortunately, our international students can also apply for scholarships.”
One of the requirements for admission to Troy University students is that their GPA must be 2.0 or above. Troy University international students can apply for a Troy scholarship as long as they meet the grade requirements. This means that once an international student applies to Troy University, the student can apply for a scholarship that suits them.
One of the scholarships for international students can cover up to 50% of the total tuition fee; therefore, international students applying for this scholarship can greatly reduce their own family’s financial burden.
Li said that for some students whose family conditions are not good, or their budget is small, college loans are very helpful. However, in China, there is another concern when it comes to loans. Some college students are applying for loans on informal online platforms, causing their personal information to be leaked. Therefore, Li said that college loans are a double-edged sword, so college students should be aware of the benefits but also the dangers.