Where Did the Months of May, June and July Go?

I’m ashamed that I’ve neglected this blog for so long. Enrollment decisions were made in early May, graduation came, and then summer quarter began at RIT!

Since fewer students are on-campus during the summer months, we tend to get many more phone calls and e-mails. Financial Aid Award notifications for our returning students started going out mid-May. We continue sending award notifications out on a rolling basis. And as a result of those award notifications, we get a tremendous amount of paperwork to process. All of this is being done with the goal of completing as much of the work prior to the first fall quarter billing date of July 18^th!  We did it! And we’ll continue to help students get their financial aid awards in place by the beginning of fall quarter. That pretty much explains where May, June and July went!

As we move forward towards fall quarter I’d like to share this article on “Financial Literacy” http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2009/awliteracy2040809.html. Soon, our graduates who borrowed to pay for their education will begin repayment on Federal Loans. Fortunately for these graduates, a new federal loan repayment plan is available. This is an Income Based Repayment plan (IBM) intended to be affordable based on income and family size.

A lot of families are weighing their options on how best to pay for the costs for the upcoming year. My recommendation is to borrow only what you need and to consider the Federal Parent Loan (PLUS) option. This is a better option than a private loan through a lender.

As we get closer to fall quarter, students should occasionally check out RIT’s portal to campus resources at www.my.rit.edu. Under the “Financial” tab you can see your financial aid award, check for missing financial aid documents and calculate your budget for the upcoming year.

As always, our staff is available to assist with any questions!