Financial Aid Research Paper

Salmon 1
Donovan M. A. Salmon
Dr. Margarette Connor
ENG 101-116: English Composition
28 March 2014
Academic Scholarships: Untapped Financial Resource
The pursuit of a college education has continued to be a daunting experience for college bound students and the parents who support them. Adult students who are responsible for their own support, while pursuing a college degree, can find themselves delaying their academic pursuits because of the escalating cost. In some extreme cases, they opt to abandon their goals completely because they are unable to finance the cost. Other students may opt to take on the burden of crippling debt in order to finance their college education. This stark reality was emphasized by President Barack …show more content…
All Undergraduate Students
TYPE OF AID

undergraduate students for the

Grant or scholarship aid1 NUMBER RECEIVING
AID

PERCENT
RECEIVING AID

TOTAL AMOUNT OF AID
RECEIVED

AVERAGE AMOUNT OF AID
RECEIVED



statistical information indicated that only
19 institutional scholarships and grants were awarded to full-time beginning



72%

$89,353,395

$5,093

16,599

68%

$66,023,883

$3,978

Federal student loans academic year 2011-2012. The

17,545

Pell grants

2,710

11%

$12,483,264

$4,606

1

Grant or scholarship aid includes aid received, from the federal government, state or local government, the institution, and other sources known by the institution.

For more information on Student Financial Assistance Programs or to apply for financial aid via the web, visit Federal Student Aid.

Source: The National Center for Education Statistics

undergraduate students. This represented approximately 0.4%, of the 5,120 …show more content…
A review of the BMCC Factbook, produced by the

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The statistical data above indicates that 4,301 full-time beginning undergraduate students, 84%, received financial aid consisting of Grants and Scholarships.

Salmon 5
BMCC Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, page 70-71 indicated a similar trend for the academic year 2011-2012. BMCC Foundation scholarships were awarded to 326 recipients, approximately 1.5% of the 21,612 students that received financial aid.
The value of the scholarships awarded was $458,487.00 an average of $1,406.00 per student. Student loans were disbursed to 4,505 students, representing approximately
20% of the students receiving financial aid, amounting to $13,652,883 an average of
$3,031.00 per student.
In summary, after comparing the data from two independent sources, it is clear that there is a huge disparity between students who received loans and students who received scholarships. Based on the relatively low number of students that received scholarships, I wish to state that the student population should strive to take advantage of the funding provided by scholarships. Scholarships will help to lower the cost