I am currently in my final year at SUNY Cortland as a Spanish and Teaching English as a Second Language double major. The only financial aid I qualify for is like $50 from TAP, which really doesn’t cover anything. In the summer, I work full-time as a secretary to help cover my college expenses, like room and board and tuition.

I don’t have time during the school year to work because of how demanding my majors are. Also, I have to drive myself to and from my observation hours. That can get really expensive, but I still have to pay for that out of pocket on top of everything else.

I have a meal plan but the food and the hours for dining halls are so ridiculous that I normally eat off campus, not to mention the food on campus is more expensive than off-campus food! I think we need to have fully funded SUNY so we don’t have debt until we die and won’t affect our credit scores for the future when we really need them.