Organize Your Budget
Tell your money where to go. Make a plan. Write it down. If you’ve never done this, now is a fabulous time to start because before you know it, you’ll be shopping for new school clothes, Halloween costumes, and Christmas gifts. How great would it be to be prepared for these events beforehand? If you’re a veteran budgeter, now’s a great time to refine your plan and still look to cut costs in everyday life.
Financial Aid Advisor
South University
What do I want to be and how much does it cost?
This is the first thing to consider before walking onto the campus of any college or university. The need to know this is because schools and programs vary along with cost. However, a student’s loan eligibility does not change because of program cost. Any student should receive a college pamphlet or simply google program cost for their potential career choice. It is best to have parents assist with this as well. It is important not to let cost discourage you from your dream. Consider the public knowledge as a heads up on how to tackle cost.
Determining your Aid Eligibility
There are a number of resources to inform individuals on their general aid eligibility. When it comes to eligibility there are two classes, dependent students or independent students. A dependent student is a student under the age of 24, not married, active-duty military, or can provide legal documentation that they’re living on their own, (emancipated minors). An independent student is a student whom is of the age of 24 or higher. A student whether being dependent or independent is only eligible for a certain amount of funding per academic year, (freshman, sophomore, and junior/senior), in addition to a parents credit status (dependent students only), *see chart below for details*. Dependent students are restricted from receiving loans past their dependency eligibility without a Parent Plus eligibility document. This document is a small credit check that is ran on the parent to determine if a student will be eligible for independent funding. A parent with a Plus Loan request approval can request additional funding in Plus Loan only to assist with in-school expenses. A Plus Loan denial on a parent makes a student eligible for independent loans, (additional $4,000 or $5,000), for that particular award year based on grade level. Knowing this information beforehand helps the student and parent(s) to complete in accurate FAFSA. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), is what every student should complete to determine eligibility no matter their current financial status. Additional information for completing a successful FAFSA can also be retrieved from the national website www.fafsa.ed.gov.
| Year | Dependent Undergraduate Student (except student whose parents are unable to obtain Plus Loans) | Independent Undergraduate Student (and dependent students whose parents are unable to obtain Plus Loans) |
| First Year | $5,500- No more than $3,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. | $9,500- No more than $3,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
| Second Year | $6,500- No more than $4,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. | $10,500- No more than $4,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
| Third and Beyond (each year) | $7,500- No more than $5,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. | $12,500- No more than $5,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
| Maximum Total Debt from Stafford Loans When You Graduate (aggregate loan limits) | $31,000- No more than $23,000 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. | $57,500- No more than $23,000 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
Understanding Lending and your Lender
Understanding financial aid is important, but it is also important to know what happens post-graduation. It’s common that most students do not know where their loans actually come from when it comes to completing a FAFSA. It’s a topic that typically doesn’t get discussed until you’ve graduated and are now receiving random letters stating it’s time to pay back the money you’ve borrowed. For a number of reasons, it is important to know who your lender is. For instance, knowing who your lender is answers the majority of all your questions that you will have in regards to how to pay, when to pay, and how much. Some lenders are school specific and may change within the course of the time you’re enrolled in college. Some factors that affect this are interest rates and loan repayment programs. Keeping up with your lenders gives you the ability to monitor and research those topics that may change for that particular organization on an academic year basis. Some things to look out for during enrollment are the change in the interest rates, if a particular lender has been bought out by another organization, or if they’ve changed their programs for repayment. The typical repayment plan post-graduation is 10 years, (total loan balance/120 payments). In most cases it is still a little unmanageable and students would need to contact their lender for a more feasible plan. Some examples of plan options include the Income-Based Repayment Plan (plan based current income), the Extended Repayment Plan (25 years), the Graduated Repayment Plan (payments increase every 2 years), and Deferment where payments are temporarily postponed. A student or parent may locate a loan lender and their website on the National Student Loan Database or www.nslds.ed.gov.
Gift Aid
Even with today’s rising tuition costs, grants and scholarships would have to be characterized as one of the best sources of additive income for any student. They are the most beneficial and the best thing about them is that it’s free money. Grants are typically need-based while scholarships are often merit-based. These types of gift-aid can come from anyplace ranging from schools, employers, and private or non-profit organizations to religious organizations, federal and state agencies. It is more common to find out about scholarships through the financial aid office; however, a lot of them could be found just by simply looking online. Researching grants and scholarships are just as important as completing a FAFSA because they too have deadlines. Grants and scholarships can also lessen the amount of loans you will have to borrow for school. You will want to make sure that you have the resources to meet the requirements in time to double-check your work before applying. Though it may all seem like a lot of work, it is important that we do the research. It is more beneficial for an individual to benefit from their educational choices versus that educational institution benefiting from the lack of finance education literacy. Do the research and beat the odds! You will find that life post-graduation would be a lot less stressful if you don’t have to worry about how to live after paying back financial aid loans.
Helpful Links:
Summer Tip: Protect Yourself From Overexposure
While enjoying the sun and outdoors, protect yourself from overexposure to sunlight by wearing a hat and using natural sunscreens without excessive chemicals. Carry Aloe Vera gel for overexposure and have an aloe plant growing in your home for any kind of burn. The cooling and healing gel inside the leaves will soothe any sunburn. It works great.
Director of Development and Communications
Adler Aphasia Center
The Maywood Center, our flagship campus, was established in 2003 by Elaine Adler and her husband Mike, a local business entrepreneur in Maywood, NJ, who suffered from aphasia, in order to answer a growing need for community-based, long-term therapeutic care for people with aphasia. With the guidance of a top-tier scientific advisory board, comprised of leading speech-language pathologists and health care leaders from across the country, the Center has developed a unique program based on the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia, an approach that places priority on the life concerns of those affected by aphasia and assists them in their efforts to return to active life. The programs and activities offered at the Adler Aphasia Center all share the important goals of enhancing the communication skills of the Center members, providing opportunities for social and peer support, and building their self-esteem and self-confidence to help them lead productive lives. Since the two centers are the only ones of its kind in the tri-state region, members come from across the socio-economic spectrum and often travel great distances to participate in its programs. As the programs and services provided at both Centers are not reimbursed through traditional medical insurance, activities are funded by philanthropic support from the private sector. While the average age of Center members is 67, as the number of young people suffering strokes increases, a growing number of members are younger, with the membership ranging in age from 25 to 94. Almost all are at a financial disadvantage, either due to losing their jobs and careers as a result of their disability or as older adults living on fixed incomes and struggling to pay for healthcare supports and therapies.
The Adler Aphasia Center programs serve as a model of excellence in the worldwide aphasia community. The flagship center offers training, educational programs, and on-site visits in order to share its unique, community-based model of care with a national and international audience of health care professionals, consumers, educators, students, speech-language pathologists and others interested in improving the quality of life for those persons affected by aphasia. In addition, the Center is actively engaged in research efforts examining the impact of its programs and collaborates with aphasia researchers worldwide. Adler Aphasia Center’s mission is simple: to provide help for those living with aphasia and their caregivers and to expand awareness and knowledge of aphasia.
Aphasia Facts:
What is aphasia?
Aphasia is a language disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language. The disorder impairs the expression and understanding of language as well as reading and writing. It does not affect one’s intellect.
Who has aphasia?
Anyone can acquire aphasia, but most people who have aphasia are in their middle to late years. Men and women are equally affected. It is estimated almost two million people in the United States currently have aphasia.
What causes aphasia?
Many times, the cause of the brain injury is a stroke. A stroke occurs when blood is unable to reach a part of the brain. Brain cells die when they do not receive their normal supply of blood, which carries oxygen and important nutrients. Other causes of brain injury are severe blows to the head, brain tumors, brain infections, and other conditions of the brain.
How is aphasia diagnosed?
Aphasia is usually first recognized by the physician who treats the individual for his or her brain injury. Frequently this is a neurologist. The physician typically performs tests that require the individual to follow commands, answer questions, name objects, and converse. If the physician suspects aphasia, the individual is often referred to a speech-language pathologist, who performs a comprehensive examination of the person’s ability to understand, speak, read, and write.
How is aphasia treated?
In some instances an individual will completely recover from aphasia without treatment. This type of “spontaneous recovery” usually occurs following a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a kind of stroke in which the blood flow to the brain is temporarily interrupted but quickly restored. In these circumstances, language abilities may return in a few hours or a few days. For most cases of aphasia, however, language recovery is not as quick or as complete. While many individuals with aphasia also experience a period of partial spontaneous recovery (in which some language abilities return over a period of a few days to a month after the brain injury), some amount of aphasia typically remains. In these instances, speech-language therapy is often helpful. Recovery can occur throughout a lifetime. Some of the factors that influence the amount of improvement include the cause of the brain damage, the area of the brain that was damaged, the extent of the brain injury, and the age and health of the individual.
Family members are encouraged to:
- Simplify language by using short, uncomplicated sentences.
- Repeat the content words or write down key words to clarify meaning as needed.
- Maintain a natural conversational manner appropriate for an adult and minimize distractions.
- Ask for and value the opinion of the person with aphasia, especially regarding family matters.
- Encourage any type of communication, whether it is speech, gesture, pointing, or drawing.
- Avoid correcting the individual’s speech and allow them plenty of time to talk.
- Help the individual become involved outside the home. Seek out support groups such as stroke clubs.
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