L~lJGHT %~ THE %~fL~T%D~ LRlJ~LH Of all the American pockets across the nation, perhaps those hit hardest by the inflation crunch were those belonging to students. As a private institution, Har· ding was of necessity con· siderably more expensive than the average statesupported colleges. With an increase of $3 per semester hour, which brought tuition to $59.00 per semester hour t students were forced to turn to a variety of sources for financial aid in 1979. It became a confusing matter to the amateur applicant for financial aid, as he armed himself with a load of tedious forms which was to be filled out. The first plan for the average student who realized that scholarship resources were limited was to apply for the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant. This consisted of 6lling out an FFS distributed by ACT. An alternate method may have been to complete an FAF distributed by the CSS. As a result of either of these applications, the student would soon receive his SER to show if he was eligible for a BEOG. If this plan failed, there are other sources of financial aid for a student to seek; such as the SEOG, CWS, NDSL, and GSL. Even for students who became aware of the presence of these sources, it was difficult to understand t.he eligibility requirements. 26 ~ Finances While the employees of the Financial Aid Offce made a concerted effort to make students aware of the possibilities, it was an impossible task to make an hidividualized financial plan for each Harding student. The ignorance of some students caused them to get a Federally Insured Student Loan at 7 per cent interest, when they might have been eligible for a National Direct Student Loan at 2 per cent interest. According to workers in the Financial Aid Office, it was not unusual for a student to graduate with an accumulation of $4,000-$5,000 in educational loan debt. For those students with perseverance and th~,e:,;:~u~ investigate all p bills could be paid combination of aSilds~'~~:=:~i from academic s to campus employment and to loans and grants. Near the end of the year, however, news became more optimistic. Russell Showalter, director of financial aid, announced in the February 16 Bison that more students will be eligible in 1980 for federal grants and loans. Cars., d:::t~~=1 by many
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