Toward the end of the 2007 fall semester, Erin Jackson went from tears of joy to tears of sorrow when she was forced to withdraw from Howard University, her dream school, after only one semester of studies.
Her financial aid package included a Federal Pell Grant, a need-based grant for low-income students, and a Stafford loan, which is distributed to most students regardless of credit worthiness. They covered tuition but did not provide the Cincinnati native enough money to pay for the dorm where freshmen are required to live.
Also included in her package was a $20,000 Federal Parent PLUS loan, but no one in her family was eligible for the fixed-rate loan. Despite her mother having lost her job, Jackson was still ineligible for Howard’s need-based institutional aid because her expected family contribution, a measure of the family’s financial strength used to determine the amount of federal financial aid to reward, was too high.
“I was distraught. I’d worked so hard all my life to get into the school of my choice, and now I was realizing that it just wasn’t enough,†says Jackson, who, in search of financial support, launched a letter-writing campaign to alumnae and school officials. “I just wanted to be heard.â€
For too many low-income, first-generation college students like Jackson, the newly opened door to higher education can be a revolving one. These students were nearly four times more likely to leave college after the first year, compared to students who had neither of these risk factors, according to the Pell Institute’s 2008 report “Moving Beyond Access“.
Jackson’s letter-writing campaign was successful, and the art major and aspiring fashion designer was allowed
to register and attend classes. She worked at DSW, a shoe retailer, part time and joined a tuition-reimbursement ROTC program that would pay her tuition for three years. But she still had a $3,386 balance to pay before she could re-enroll for the spring semester and accept the ROTC scholarship.“At first [I thought,] I can do it. [But with time], I got tired, my grades started to slip, my hair fell out, and there were points where I did not sleep for hours,†says the 20-year-old who had a 3.0 GPA at her college prep high school and managed to keep it at Howard, despite her hardships. “There was always something in the back of my head saying, you still need to pay for this. You might not be here next semester.â€
She was right. She would not be able to return to Howard in January 2008 because her mother could not assist with paying off the debt and the money from her job only covered the cost of art supplies required for her classes. So while trying to finish the semester at Howard (No. 2 on Black Enterprise’s Top 50 Colleges for African Americans list), Jackson sought funding to attend a school back home in Ohio.
The debt that was preventing her from returning to Howard would also be a roadblock to transferring to another four-year college because Howard would not release her transcripts until she paid the balance.
Now, with the help of a local grant, Jackson attends Antonelli Community College in Cincinnati where she has a 3.7 GPA. She is still considered a student at Howard and can return as soon as her debt is paid in full. So she works 30 to 40 hours a week at T.J. Maxx, an apparel retailer, with a goal to return to school for the winter semester in 2010.
Jackson is not alone. Low-income, first generation students make up 24% of the undergraduate population and after six years 43% leave college without earning their degrees, the Pell Institute reports. The mean amount of unmet need for these students is nearly $6,000 before loans.
For the 2009-2010 academic year, Howard University awarded a total of $2 million to 406 students for a new need-based grant for low-income students. “We estimate that we will award close to 1,000 students prior to the start of the fall semester,†says a Howard spokesperson.
Jackson is ineligible for this grant also.
Sometimes she gets angry or sad when she thinks about her situation, but she says she isn’t going to let it all get to her. She has started a wearable art clothing line called CopyNPaste to satisfy her passion for art. She is also producing a fashion show for it May 23 and plans to invite college fashion designers from around the country. “Hopefully, it will be another source of income for me. I tell myself that one day I’ll be back at Howard†she says.
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