Alex Pamieri – News Editor
For the 2017-18 school year, the cost of attendance at Southern is $25,840. Because of this, Lew DeLuca, coordinator of Student Financial Literacy and Advising, said he wants students to know there are scholarships every month that students can apply for.
“It’s kind of a win-win for the student and the company,” said DeLuca.
There are roughly seven scholarships that students can apply for in the month of September alone. On the Southern website, there is a scholarships tab that lists every scholarship students can apply for and what month the scholarship deadline is. DeLuca said this is helpful to all students since nobody wants to be in large debt coming out of college.
“What I learned through other colleges that do financial literacy is they wanted to reduce the debt for their students,” said DeLuca. “Indiana university was the first to do it. So they send these debt letters.”
Debt letters is something DeLuca will send to the seniors at Southern. It basically says how much a certain student owes in loans. DeLuca said by the student looking at their debt firsthand via email can make them more aware of the situation.
Trace Malone, a senior business management major, said these scholarships online are a great opportunity for students to have. He thinks it will do students well in the long haul since most students have college debt.
“I think this is good for the community,” said Malone. “I want to apply for some scholarships to reduce my loans so this might be a good starting point.”
Malone said he has a lot of tuition that is piled up from the years he has been at college. But because of the scholarships, Malone said his fees can decrease since there are scholarships every month.
“It definitely is a good thing that this university chose to do this because it can decrease the loan payments that I have to date,” said Malone. “I hope I can get as many scholarships as I can.”
Malone’s main reason to apply for scholarships is to owe less money for when he graduates. Because this is his goal, Malone said every little bit counts. Whether it’s $1 or $1,000, he said he is up for applying for scholarships on the Southern website.
“Since they’re every month I’ll definitely look into it,” said Malone. “I mean what do I have to lose?”
Naia Smith, a sophomore psychology major, is a transfer student from a university in Tennessee and said she thinks the scholarships that Southern is offering is a great opportunity to get money.
“College students are always struggling,” said Smith. “If it’s out there I don’t understand why people wouldn’t do it.”
Now that Smith knows about the scholarships that can be applied for every month on the Southern website, she said she will get to applying. Because it is free money, Smith said she would apply. Though she does not know the exact number, Smith said she does owe a lot in tuition funds to date.
“I think this is a great opportunity,” said Smith.
