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2The Daily Tar HeelMonday, April 13, 1992 No freebies: Scholarship search firms often lead to loans By Thomas King Staff Writer In the 1987-88 school year, Ben jamin Calfee was a senior at Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines. He didn't have the type of senior year that you would read about. Like most of his classmates, he won dered what he was going to do for Spring Break, worried about whom he would take to the senior prom and wished for graduation day to come quickly. But not all of the questions that plagued the teenager's mind were as carefree as those. Like many other high school seniors, Ben had to figure out how he was going to pay for the next four years of his education. A letter arrived at his house from a financial aid search firm. It detailed the methods of their company and how they could serve him. 'They kept writing me letters saying that I was eligible for all of this money that was out there not being used by students," Calfee said. "All I had to do was to send them my application and a small fee, and they would send me back a list of about 20 names that I could write to get money. "It was a bunch of bull because most of the names they sent me back were for loans," said Calfee, a senior business administration major. "Some of the names were like The State Financial Aid Company. I would write letters to these places, and the ones that I got back would have things like 'No forwarding address' written on them." High school seniors and students in college often receive letters from or hear about such companies as USA 1 22 1 , Academic Resources and the Stu dent Financial Services. Some have seen their advertisements in newspapers across the country. Most companies guarantee that they will find students at least six sources of financial aid in return for a fee. What most students don't realize is that edu cational loans are considered financial aid, not just the scholarships and grants that most students are seeking. One organization that conducts fi nancial aid searches for students is Aca demic Resources based in Deep Gap and owned by Grace Rohrer. She said Academic Resources guarantees a stu dent at least six and as many as 25 sources of financial aid. "We have a data bank estimated at 1 0,000 sources," Rohrer said. "We pro vide information to the students telling them which of the sources they are eligible for. Our fee is $65; the money is returned if we don't find at least six." The University's financial aid office in Vance Hall has a similar service for undergraduate students, said Eleanor Morris, director of the Office of Schol arships and Student Aid. "We have a computer data service that is on lend. It doesn't cost anything to use, but (it does require) a little time." The resource center in Vance Hall also has books and pamphlets that list information about federal, state and pri- NEED MONEY FOR COLLEGE? TIRED OF GOV'T RED TAPE? Private Sector Funding is Available! For more info call: 1-900-420-3715 Ext. 313 Student s under 18 require parents permission $2 per minute 10 Visits $30 20 Visits $52 1 Month Unlimited $45 bpen 7 days a week Til 10 pm Weekdays 169 E. Franklin St. Near the Post Offloe . 929-5409 NOW ACCEPTING CAROLINA DINING CARDS AFTER 5 P.M. ASK ABOUT SPECIAL PARTY PRICES. HOURS: Sun-Thurs 1 1 :00 am-1 :30 am Fri-Sat 11:00am-2:30am FAST FREE DELIVERY 968-FAST (968-3278) PIZZA Below prices do not include tax. 70UTlPEciAL j" 2"l 6" CHEESE "1 gUMBY MADNESS! , 1 6 Cheese Pizza , , PIZZAS 1 1 20 1 Topping Pizza ONLY I I l ONLY I I ONLY 1 1 (Q) 54 1 1 1 1 1 1 I Additional Toppings $1.00 1 I Additional Toppings $200 L J 1. overBothJ'izzas j i LUNCH SPECIAL i 11A.M.-4 P.M. Mon Fri $1 .00 off Any 1 2" Coupon or Special $2.00 off Any 1 6" Coupon or Special (NOT VALID WITH CARRYOUT SPECIAL) $2.50 Off Any 20" Coupon Pizza MfYTWAI irAi"ru f W AOM k A a rvkiccn yiWI V-U-ILS VVI I I VJUIVIDI IVlrtUINCOO TlvlEATLbv Toppings include Pepperoni, Sausage, Ham, Ground Beef j 12" Meat Lovers $7.32 1 6" Meat Lovers $8.97 20" Meat Lovers $11.80 1 1 A n 111 Ml On rrOfAnTnfntf? n o)EI3n)5)5 OVBSyf If! 1111 On n U Jl Here's a chance for everyone who wants to get into the med school of their choice to really use their medulla. At Ronkin you'll spend three times as many hours with us than with some other course. You'll be in some classes that win uc uc 3IHUU Frill II as five (there's no ILwJUtij hiding here). You'll tab a real MCAT. You'll get scheduled tutoring and MCAT exam reviews. All in all, you'll get the most thorough, most comprehensive MCAT preparation anywhere. What mi i could De Detter malpractice insur ance than that? LSAT GMAT GRE MCAT TEST PREPARATION AND APPLICATION ASSISTANCE RX: ACT NOW. CLASS SIZE LIMITED. Chapel Hill 932-9400 vate sources of financial aid. Two part time graduate students work at the cen ter and help students in their search. "Is $90 or whatever (financial aid search firms') fee worth the time (stu dents) are saving? That is adecision that the students have to make," Morris said. Rohrer said students who didn't re ceive any financial aid would be guar anteed a $200 U.S. savings bond from her company. "If they receive less than $200 in aid then we will send them a savings bond, but they have to send us copies of the rejection letters," she said. But Morris said the scholarship firm might not be everything it said it was. "I've read where some firms will give the student a $200 savings bond if they don't get a source. (But) what about the loan programs that everyone is eligible for? Does that count?" Some students may skim over the ads in the newspapers or throw out the let ters that the financial aid search firms send. But for students who are desper ate for money, they respond to these organizations, hoping to get some kind of help to finance their educations. Morris said, "It's been our experi ence that we have never talked to a student who has gotten a scholarship match from one of the services." Many scholarship search companies were started on the premise that mil lions of dollars in financial aid were not being utilized by students each year because they did not know that it was available. The American Legion recently con ducted a survey and determined that there was almost $4 billion available per year for financial aid, Rohrer said. "One hundred and forty-five million of the aid was not claimed because people did not know about it," she said. "Academ ic Resources has the latest and most up-to-date resources. So" many of the scholarships and other forms of aid had odd or different requirements that they wouldn't know about." The function of financial aid search firms varies depending on the type of searches they do and the kind of finan cial aid they may find for students. Some firms are called matching or ganizations because they connect stu dent athletes with sports scholarships. Others, like Financial Services, offer programs for high school students with appropriate colleges and universities. v cs - -J v uji 1 y - , - xi 1 Happy Eoitev Special, Way! Baskets, Easter Ornaments, Cards, :, Basket Staffers, Stuffed Animals, 3 & of course. Balloons! We'll deliver or come by and see our great selection of fun ideas! 967-3433 m W. Main St, CairborO (comer of Main & Weaver, diagonal form Town Hall) Register for Registration and Inf ormation in the Pit Monday April 13 - Thursday April 16 (NO Fall Registration) For further info call 966-4041 Rohrer said, "Our service provides a.' list of scholarships, loans and part-time. - unru rnar uA nav miinn rha outran. eiigioie tor aner running nis or ner data, ; form through our computers. "We send the students any informal tion that they request to answer their questions. They are under no obligation, ; to go with our service after they receive' '. it." Some financial aid offices say stu-. dents should not use these services be-,' cause the information can be found in a" ' college financial aid office, from a high' , school guidance counselor or from re search in the public library. Morris agreed. "I would just advise students to try the free one on campus .' first. "I'm not trying to say that they don't . work. I'm just saying we've never had a student that has been tremendously successful in getting a scholarship with one, or maybe they 're just not reporting them to us," she said. . Rohrer said she believed differently. ' , "We feel that we have access to more ' sources. We have more sources than a ., library because we have people who " work around-the-clock with our com-; .; puters to get the information. Libraries ' and counselors don't have the resources to do the volume of work that we do."- Although Morris advises students to ' ' use campus resources before going to a ' fee-based search, she said the firms do fill a void. "Filing for financial aid is a difficult process. Programs like ours are already overworked so that we can't take the time to sit down with a student" ' and explain the process like we would" ' want to do." Morris said there was a need for the services if students didn't take the time' ' to do the research themselves. Diane "Joey"Reynolds,aseniorbusi-" nessadministration major inthemaster's of accounting program, said people who' ;' pay for these services know exactly why they are doing it. "These companies are networked ' with huge databases that can locate the . money. What would take someone a"'.' couple of days to research would take" '' someone at the computer about two minutes to do. All you are really doing is paying for the time." Campus Calendar MONDAY 10 a.m. Sorority Rush 1992 Registration until 2 p.m. in the Pit. 3 p.m. UCPPS will have a session on maximizing internships for students who already have secured one in 306 Hanes. 6 p.m. Black Interdenominational Student As sociation will have Bible study in U pen do Lounge. The topic is "The Christian Response to AIDS." 6:30 p.m. CGLA management board will meet in 225 Union to review this year's events. 1 1 7:30 p.m. SCA will have a meeting in 212 Union. CGLA will nominate officers and begin to plan next year's activities in 225 Union. Human Rights Week '92 open organizational meeting in the Campus Y Resource Center. 8 p.m. a.p.p.I.e.s. will sponsor an open discussion on "Sex. Drugs, and Harassment" in 226 Union. - : : 1 7 & Sidewalk Sale mf id T-shirts as low as $3.00! Sweats $ 1 5.00! JsflTday 9:30-4f Up to 75 OFF Selected Items! 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Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 13, 1992, edition 1
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