James Meeks
Staff Writer
Cameron University’s first installment of Financial Boot Camp, titled “Financial Aid 101,” took place at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 1 in the Shepler Centennial Room.
Financial Boot Camp is a five-part workshop that will be held at the same time and location every Tuesday throughout the month of October Dinner is always provided.
Financial Assistance Director Donald Hall is leading the workshop series and hopes to teach students many different aspects of financial aid from scholarships, to managing one’s personal finances, to preventing identity theft and setting up a savings plan.
Hall taught different types of financial aid that students could apply for and how to qualify for aid. Hall also taught students how to apply for a loan and what to look out for when in the process of obtaining one.
“Federal Student aid is basic financial help for students to help pay for educational expenses,” Hall said. “It covers such things as tuition, fees, housing, meals, costs for transportation, school supplies and can also be utilized for other things such as purchasing laptops and computers.”
Hall states that to be eligible for Federal aid students must have proof of financial need, be a U.S citizen or an eligible noncitizen of the U.S with a valid social security number and maintain a satisfactory GPA. If a student is also a male, he must be registered for Selective Service.
If a student is not doing well in a class, there are many factors that they must look at and weigh when withdrawing from it.
“It’s important to keep in mind the difference between your academic GPA and your financial aid GPA,” Hall said. “If you go talk to an academic advisor, say you’re having trouble with a class and you want to drop it, most of your advisors are going to tell you drop it and get your ‘W’ and it won’t affect your GPA.”
Hall said this is good advice if you’re not doing well in a class, but for students who are receiving financial aid, it could be a bad decision.
“That ‘W’ can affect your financial aid, so we advise you, if you’re in a situation where you’re receiving federal student aid and you need to make changes to your enrollment, to check with the financial aid office and your academic advisor,” Hall said.
According to Hall, students that are receiving government aid are still receiving aid despite the government shutdown and that they have nothing to worry about.
“Our funding has already been approved and appropriated for this financial aid year, so we are okay as far as the funds go,” Hall said.
During the workshop, students received a pamphlet on all the types of different financial aid and what they mean.
Hall said students wishing to see what forms of financial aid they are receiving should go their AggieAccess account under the ‘My Info’ tab.
The next Financial Boot Camp workshop will be held on Oct. 15, when the workshop will discuss debt.
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