Commuter

Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: News

Third-year Criminal Justice major Shawn Mullen knows how hard it can be to pay for an education, working more than 40 hours a week on top of class work made it "too hard to do classwork."

Mullen's experience is not uncommon. "Debt is a concern for them," said Stephen Donchez, the assistant bursar at NCC, "it's a big concern."

Donchez said one of the ways the college helps students manage their budget is the tuition payment plan for those taking credit courses. There are five payments spread over the five months of each semester.

Currently 1600 students use the payment plan, Donchez said. Cindy King, director of financial aid at NCC, said the financial aid programs offered at the college help students with paying their tuition as well.

During the '05-'06 school year 4457 students received financial aid in some form, either loans or grants.

King said more students are applying for loans because of ineligibility for grants. Ineligibility could be from students living out of district.

The recent federal bill reducing the interest rate on student loans to a fixed 6.8 percent has King "excited."

Donchez said the payment plan helps students with financial aid by being "a great bridge" to keep the students in class and the college paid.

Robert Williams, a sophomore Sports Management major, uses student loans and a job at FedEx to pay for his college education. Williams said anyone planning to get an education will worry about paying for it.

King said it's a positive step to see students take loans and tuition payments seriously, adding her son is planning to move home after earning his degree to pay off student loans. "To just ignore it is the worst thing to do," she said.

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