I received the Excelsior Scholarship.  The problem with Excelsior is that it’s more difficult to qualify for than initially advertised and there’s a lot of hoops you need to jump through in order to get it.

I have been on the phone with Excelsior this semester a total of 4 times. The financial aid office here has even gotten involved and I still have not received the money. It’s very frustrating and it’s like they want you to struggle to get it even if you do qualify. Tuition increases would mean more people wanting to receive this money and probably put more pressure on HESC which already seems to be struggling to help students get the money promised.

I have a few grants, some scholarships, and the Excelsior Scholarship. I pay for nothing but books, however the Excelsior Scholarship definitely needs to be a little more transparent with its requirements. I didn’t have an issue with it at first but then they didn’t want to give me the scholarship even after I qualified and was accepted for it because I had 9 credits on my transcript from a school I used to go to. 

There, I paid out of pocket for everything and it was too expensive. I had to budget a lot of things out of my shopping list and even went on a diet due to my school expenses while at my last school. I was considering taking out loans before the Excelsior Scholarship came around because I was literally putting my health at risk by not wasting money that could go into school. College is a necessity. There is no reason for it to be treated like it’s a luxury when we have western countries being just as successful as we are.

I’m a student in the Human Service field, I feel forced to take out loans because my mother is the only other person helping me pay for my education and she is a single mother.

While I was at my 2-year school, both of my parents ended up paying for half of my tuition while I worked my brains out and paid for the other half myself.  My mom can’t help me out anymore because of the tuition hikes, which forced me to take out loans in the middle of the semester to cover the tuition.  It’s not ideal but it’s better than dropping out.  

Well, in general CUNY and SUNY tuition hikes are detrimental to lower class students who rely on the lower tuition for their advanced education. Because of the hikes, students are having to resort to increasingly drastic measures to make up the money.

In my case, I’ve been penny pinching since middle school so I’ve accumulated enough savings to pay through undergrad out of pocket. However the tuition (and especially the hike) has had me reassess my financial situation to see what I’ll have to cut and what I’ll have to do in order to afford it. Since on top of paying for school, I live alone and basically have been living self-sufficiently. On a side note I’m living almost exclusively on white rice to keep a monthly surplus.

I am currently a Senior.  When I decided that I wanted to major in art education I chose to come to SUNY New Paltz for their top rated art education program. Since the budget cuts it’s been nearly impossible for me to get all of the classes that I need in order to graduate. When I first transferred here there were so many more sections of classes offered. Making my schedule last semester was a nightmare because the classes I needed for my major and the classes I needed in order to fulfill my general education requirements conflicted in time slots. I had to repeat studio courses that I had already completed just to fulfill the requirements for my major. This semester I had the same experience. Not being able to take the studio courses in my concentration negatively impacts my educational development and my ability to teach in the future. I’m paying for a quality education but due to budget cuts out of my control, my education is being compromised.

I am currently in $33,000 of student loan debt, and I’m one of the lucky ones, as I know of people whose debt far exceeds that amount. There was never an option of paying out of pocket as I, nor anyone in my family can afford the astronomically high amount it cost to attend school.

The constant rise of tuition is a serious issue for all students as it is pricing out lower income families from a higher education. Even those currently receiving the Excelsior Scholarship could lose it and be faced with this hike.

I am the first in my family to go to college, thanks to the help of a partial TAP award, the Pell Grant the SEEK program and now the Excelsior Scholarship. I am a transfer student, attending Brooklyn College to obtain my Bachelors of Science in Psychology. My father had also lost his job two years ago, so my financial aid situation has fluctuated each year based on how much he makes.

Overall, I am  able to go to school and be the first in my family to graduate college, so I am very thankful that the scholarship has helped with that. The idea of living in New York after graduation is not a problem. The idea of taking 30 credits by the end of the year, however, is.

12 credits a semester is already a lot. I am currently only taking 12 credits this semester, through the SEEK program, which I have been a part of since attending Kingsborough Community College. 

 Without the Scholarship or any financial aid, I would have paid out of pocket since my family is against the idea of taking out loans. The most stressful cost for me right now is my metro card.

I am a freshman at Brooklyn College studying Communication Television and Radio.  Without the Excelsior Scholarship, I would have needed to take out a loan.  Luckily, I found out about the scholarship through Forest Hills High School. They pushed me to fill out FAFSA early. They had an assembly about the scholarship and sent emails with a link to apply.  I don’t plan to stay in Brooklyn College.  My mom just moved to Florida and I will be transferring to a school down there.  I am aware that the scholarship will turn into a loan however, I am still grateful because the scholarship gave my mother time to save up before she can start paying out of pocket.

Currently, balancing work and school is a lot.   I am taking 15 credits while working 40 hours a week to pay for additional costs such as textbooks, food and transportation. My mom helps me out with the costs but balancing it is a lot, especially straight out of high school. If I had the option to take fewer classes I would. I believe the scholarship would be better if students were able to take a mandatory 12 credits because 15 is a lot of pressure, especially since the scholarship doesn’t cover Winter or Summer semesters.

I was initially rejected from the Excelsior Scholarship. I was looking forward to having my last year of college paid for. When I did some research into why I was rejected, I realized it had to do with the amount of credits I had. As an Excelsior applicant, I needed to have 90 credits going into my senior year but only had 89. I realized that my college level courses in high school had not been transferred to CSI. I had taken credits through College Now at Kingsborough Community College when I was in high school that had not automatically been applied to my transcript.

Once I contacted my high school, I was able to access the credits, appeal and qualify for the scholarship. I had taken out loans for the first three years, gotten some TAP and some merit scholarships. Excelsior came at the right time, I figured if I could get it for my last year that would be great so it was worth appealing! For the rest of the costs I have a small savings from my grandfather and I work 20 hours a week. This pays for books, food and metrocards.

Textbooks are definitely the most stressful cost. I pay around $200 a semester. I don’t know a lot of people who applied for Excelsior, maybe only one other person. I found out because I saw the commercial on TV and the news stories. My parents also saw it and urged me to apply. I think that the 15 credit requirement is fair as long as students know about it beforehand. As far as the four year requirement, I think it would be unfortunate if they got a job outside of the state, but for majority of students I think it’s fair. For me that would be the least fair part of the scholarship.

I am studying psychology.  I receive the Pell Grant and TAP.  I had to drop chemistry because it was so hard and I ended up becoming part time that semester.  It disqualified me from TAP mid semester, which was really stressful.  Another semester, I dropped Russian and the same thing happened.  If I didn’t receive financial aid at all during college I would be in a lot of debt, probably have a mental breakdown. 

I work as a home attendant 20 hours a week.  I used to do tutoring.  I pay for food out of pocket.  I live with my grandma and we have SNAP.  When I first got into school it was hard to register for the courses I needed.  If college was free it would mobilize and expand people.  People would have more time.  It would help people in need that can barely survive.  Transportation is the biggest challenge for me as a student.  It takes me 2 hours each way.  Also mental health.  There needs to be better mental health services and services for non traditional students.