As students at SXU there are many courses that we’re required to take regardless of our majors or interests. These courses include Philosophy 140 or 150, the religious studies course of our choice, as well as the first year courses for incoming freshmen.
The express purpose of these courses is to help students build a strong philosophical foundation that will guide them as they progress on their academic journeys. The courses also help to familiarize students with the rich religious traditions SXU is rooted in as well as the important work of the Sisters of Mercy.
However, it boggles my mind that of all the courses students are required to take, a financial literacy course is not one of them. In fact, not only is it not required but it’s not even offered.
When I think back to all the obstacles that have held me back in college, nothing has been more frustrating or discouraging than having to navigate through the kafkaesque hellscape that is the financial aid office.
I’m not exaggerating when I say I can’t think of a single instance in my entire seven year college career, where a financial aid issue I was dealing with was ever resolved with any kind of ease.
It seems as though every single time I’ve walked into a financial aid office, ready to resolve a previously discussed issue, two new issues present themselves. Whether it’s because of some additional required documents or some obscure bureaucratic rule that the apathetic office drones who work there couldn’t be bothered to let me know about my previous trip.
One habit I’ve had to develop in order to make my life a bit easier over the years has been keeping my dad’s death certificate in the glove compartment of my car. Because for some barbaric reason financial aid needs to see it every year.
“It’s to confirm your mom’s status as a widow.” I get that. I could understand why they’d want to check that once. But to have to dig it up every year as if my father miraculously came back from the dead to pay for my college is just preposterous.
I literally lost a year and a half of schooling just because I couldn’t find his death certificate and the COVID shutdown made it impossible to get a duplicate in time. If it weren’t for Biden’s COVID relief bill I’d still be struggling to scrape together the balance I owed for my last semester of community college.
The idea of giving an 18 year old with no credit, no real world skills and no job prospects for at least four years, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans is ridiculous. If that same 18 year old walked into a bank and requested a $100,000 loan for anything they’d be laughed out the door.
College is ridiculously expensive and stressful as it is. The least we can do for the students who choose to attend, is give them a realistic idea of what they can expect. Teach them that there’s more to college than what’s on the tantalizing brochure you sold them on.
Most importantly offer them actual helpful tools and resources they can use to navigate the financial side of the college experience with relative ease.
What’s the point of a college education if you’re just gonna regret it for the rest of your life?
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