Financial Aid, Finances
Paid
We have all fallen into hard times where money is short and everything is
expensive, whether you went a summer without a job or you just don’t come from
a family of wealth. But what about
those girls among us who work hard for what they have and still barely scrape
by?
Marian has been a great experience for me.
I have worked my way up from a freshman whose tuition cost about $5,575
and did work study, to a sophomore and junior with a fast food job as well as doing
work-study. And now I am a senior
working as a lifeguard receiving no financial assistance. I know the importance of money and the work
that one must do to acquire it.
But as I neared my senior year, my car got older, thus more expensive, and
my work schedule was nowhere near as busy as it had once been. I was broke and my parents were trying to
help me the best they could.
Then the real bang came when I found out that I was receiving no financial
aid for my most expensive year of schooling at Marian, totaling a whopping
$5,800.
Thoughts went through my brain at a million miles an hour about where I may
have to go for my final year of high school.
Might I have to start all over again looking for new friends and
teachers?
As I chatted one day with Tuition Receivable Manager, Mrs. Schroeder I
asked for the percentage of girls in each class receiving financial aid but it
could not be provided. However, she did share with me that nearly 35% of Marian
students are receiving financial aid.
Determining the financial need situation is a long one in which a
three-page application must be filled out along with 1040 tax receipt and your
parent’s W2s. After all is turned in, a
committee meets to discuss who should receive financial aid based off the
application and tax returns.
However, some speculation was raised during the first assembly of the year
when Ms. Kish told the student body that there was money for anyone who wanted
to come to Marian but did not have the means to pay for it. Girls who had been receiving financial aid
and were not anymore felt like newcomers would be welcomed at their financial
expense.
Perhaps they were just feeling a bit resentful that day or maybe they were
not fully aware of what Ms. Kish meant by her statement, myself included.
Ms. Kish assured me that these people would also have to go through the
same process, which everyone else had by filling out the application and having
it discussed at the meeting. Also stating that if a circumstance changes from
the time you are denied financial aid to the present, you may contact the
school and be re-evaluated.
So here I am, a senior at Marian paying full price for my tuition even
though money is stretched further this year than before, and loving it to a
certain extent. My paychecks go 3/4 to Marian and 1/4 in my pocket while my
parents are working hard to make sure my brother gets the same opportunity as I
have by letting him attend Prep next year.
Sure, my family probably won’t be able to take that summer trip to Colorado
this year and my car might not be the coolest thing to roll through an
intersection, but it is fun to see what you can do on a weekend for less than
$5.
Although expensive, Marian is a wonderful place to learn and to grow; a
price tag cannot be placed on that.