EDITORIAL: Helping students defray the cost of college
As colleges and universities prepare to welcome students, the issue of soaring tuition is no doubt again vexing many kids and parents.
Student debt has reached $1.34 trillion, according the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. But what many people may not realize is that millions of scholarship money goes unrewarded every year.
USA Today on Friday profiled 27-year-old Gabrielle McCormick, a doctoral student at Texas A&M. After an injury dashed her hopes of securing an athletic scholarship, she set out to find alternative financial sources to pay for her education. “She quickly found out,” the paper reported, “that there is a scholarship for everything, including students with red hair, women over 5-foot-10 and lover of the game Minecraft.”
In total, Ms. McCormick earned more than $150,000 in scholarship from dozens of disparate sources. Much of the aid was in small increments, some below $2,000. She has now formed a enterprise that provides a free online curriculum intended to help students search for available cash.
Many students resist pursuing a degree because they can’t afford to pay for college. Ms. McCormick should serve as an inspiration — and a reminder that there’s money out there to help soften the blow.
