I’m a junior who majors in Psychology and intends to pursue a career as a therapist. These goals are motivated by my personality traits as an individual and my intent for others to feel heard. I afford my tuition through Federal Pell Grants and New York State Tuition Assistance Program. I am satisfied with the financial aid process and so is my family considering I’m a first generation college student. Difficulties I find within the financial aid system is the substantial pressure to maintain my grades in order to not have my awarded aid decreased. I live off-campus with my family and haven’t run into any issues with professors of class accessibility as yet. I am granted reasonable advice from my advisors and guidance throughout my process. The physical upkeep of my campus is well-preferred over virtual classes which bore me to sleep at times.

I attend SUNY Cortland as a full time student. I am currently a senior but have been attending school here since I was a freshman. I am from Corfu, New York. When I started considering colleges and going through my options I made sure to keep my parents in the loop as they are the ones who pay for my schooling. I first considered two private schools in different states but as time passed I realized that the tuition cost would be far too much so I began to focus on SUNY schools. When the time came, I ultimately chose Cortland. It felt right and once I heard about their Professional Writing major, I was sold. Once Covid-19 hit, all of my classes were online except for one science lab but I was already on campus so I couldn’t do much to change it. The second semester of my freshman/sophomore year (I am graduating early so it gets a bit complicated) I stayed at home and did all of my classes virtually. Although that first year was tough, it was helpful to my family as we didn’t have to pay the living on campus fees and we received a lot of refunds since I wasn’t using the campus amenities. That semester at home was also the hardest for me grades wise. I began to work while taking these classes and strained myself too much. Ever since then my grades have improved massively and I’ve continuously made the dean’s list. I will say that the toughest part about going to college is the tuition and figuring out how these student loans will affect me in the future. I usually have a discussion with my mom before I move back to school about how we are going to pay for school and although she always figures it out, it’s still a very stressful situation. There should be changes to tuition and what fees are included. I was never a fan of dining hall food so having to pay for a meal plan I barely used felt ridiculous to my family. The amount for a parking pass should also be lowered due to the fact that they will sell way over how many actual parking spots there are on campus. My experience here has been great and I will miss it when I graduate in the spring. 

I am a junior at Hunter College from Staten Island. I constantly have to walk up flights of stairs to meet with professors for office hours because the elevators don’t work. I can’t buy textbooks on the Hunter website because they are so expensive. Hunter doesn’t have enough funding for adequate COVID testing and coming back to school was terrible. The online classes were terrible. We don’t have enough options for disabled people. After many years of fighting, we are finally just able to get an elevator in the subway. While I pay out of pocket for school, I know others who are struggling and in need of help.

Leslie Spinosa is a first-year student at Pratt Institute. Although apprehensive about the remote learning option offered to her after committing to Pratt, Leslie felt somewhat obligated to accept the offer in fear of losing her presidential merit scholarship or loans in the future. Leslie was accepted into Pratt in Spring of 2020, right before COVID-19 had kicked into high gear. Given her family’s financial security at the time, she felt confident in committing to the institute with reliance on her presidential merit scholarship, student loans, and federal work study allotment. However, that security was compromised in the wake of COVID-19, as her father was out of work as a car dealer for months. Mr. Spinosa applied for a pell grant to provide his family some relief, however it never followed through. Now, he is back at his job, however business is slow and school has become harder to pay for as a result. Leslie has taken on a job of her own to help out, however, with the especially chaotic schedule of online school, she has not been able to take on enough work hours to generate a significant income. Not being able to work on campus to acquire her federal work study money has been a major loss. Additionally, Leslie’s family income was higher at the time of applying for the FAFSA, resulting in a lower grant which, in light of her current financial situation, has left her to rely heavily on loans. Further, Leslie has dealt with her fair share of basic struggles with the new remote learning system. She often finds it difficult to count on consistent communication with her professors, and has had a particularly hard time getting her questions answered by her financial aid advisor, leaving her in the dark about where she stands with the school. Despite all of this, Leslie has worked exceptionally hard to make it through the semester thus far, and will continue to push forward through these trying circumstances. Leslie sees the great value and necessity in acquiring her college degree, and hopes Pratt will provide her with the technical skills and connections to launch her post-graduate career.