Carolyn Camacho doesn't even bother filling out financial aid forms. The third-year student at the University of Alaska Anchorage thinks her parents, a nurse and a postal worker, make too much money to qualify for assistance.
"I've had friends who've tried it -- friends with similar family incomes -- and it didn't work," she said. "So I just follow what they do and save myself the paperwork."
Camacho, 20, is exactly the kind of student that university officials targeted in a February drive to get students to fill out financial aid forms or go online to fill them out -- but, like so many of her classmates, she didn't do it.
University officials say many Alaska students are making a mistake by turning their backs on possible aid. The students are grossly underestimating the financial aid for which they are eligible, officials say.
At UAA, only 50 percent of degree-seeking students apply for aid, said Ted Malone, director of financial aid. Many families don't consider financial aid while planning to pay for the $1,344 tuition and total estimated cost of $8,677 per semester, which includes housing and food. Like Camacho, some save on many of those costs by living at home.
But some run out of saved cash quickly or charge their tuition, housing, food and books to credit cards, take out high-interest loans, or extend their education over years in order to work and attend school simultaneously, Malone said. If they lack the proper understanding of what their options are -- from low-interest federal loans to the government's Pell grants, which give money away to needy students -- the adverse effects on their education can add up, officials say.
Mary Gower, manager of student services for the University of Alaska, said that "the more free money they have to attend school, (the more) they stay in school."
Gower also pointed out that research shows students who go full time do better academically.
"Sometimes I think there's an idea or perception that you have to be on welfare to qualify, or that if you're white you won't qualify," Malone said. "But almost everyone is eligible."
Alaskans, Malone said, are applying less often for financial aid than others at similar institutions in other states. He does not know why, but said anecdotal evidence suggests Alaskans are more suspicious of the government and much less inclined to give out personal financial information.
"We have a higher sense of privacy than some other places," he said.
Vonnie Gaither, career resource adviser at East High School, which has about 2,200 students, said she battles with parents of seniors on their way to college over filling out financial aid forms.
"Alaskan parents feel like our income is so high that they won't qualify," she said. "But I keep telling them to look at the price of schools."
The number of students applying for financial aid in Alaska is higher than it was several years ago, though. In 2001, a rule was implemented requiring students applying for the popular Alaska Supplemental Education Loan to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
The FAFSA form puts students in the running for Pell grants, or need-based free money from the federal government ranging from $400 to $4,050 per year.
During the first year of the requirement, the number of recipients of Pell grants at UAA increased by 16 percent. The University of Alaska Fairbanks saw a jump of more than 10 percent. At the University of Alaska Southeast, there was an increase of 25 percent from the previous year.
But still not enough students are applying for the aid, officials say. Now, they say, students have an added incentive to apply.
The state next year will begin a new grant program aimed at needy students. It will give away about $600,000 its first year. This is the first time the state will give away grant money; previously, only Alaska and South Dakota did not give out need-based grants to students. The deadline for applying for the grant money is April 15.
University officials say that helping students identify reasonable ways to pay for college -- especially money that comes in through federal grants -- helps the institution's bottom line. More than $9 million was brought into the UA system last year through Pell grants.
"Some people are determined to do it on their own," Malone said. "(They say) 'I don't want to take a student loan; I'd rather eat Top Ramen and eat oatmeal every day and live with six people.'
"That's certainly an option, but how much are they slowing down and delaying their real job field by years?"
"We want to give students the best opportunity to succeed," Malone said. "It's a personal decision people have to make, but I think a lot of folks make the decision without all the information."
Daily News reporter Megan Holland can be reached at mrholland@adn.com.
INFORMATION ON financial aid:
www.finaid.org
Gotocollege.Alaska.edu
