With the total cost of attendance at Syracuse University topping out at more than $40,000 per year, $2 billion may seem like an inconceivable amount of money available for college students to help pay for tuition.

But that is how much is awarded each year in financial aid from private organizations alone.

‘I don’t think it’s taken advantage of as much as it could be,’ said Mark Urquhart, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. ‘You’ll see an increase in student interest if they see how much money’s out there that’s not getting taken advantage of.’

But contrary to popular belief, there isn’t any money to spare, as nearly all $2 billion offered by private organizations each year is claimed by students.

According to Mark Kantrowitz, author of the Financial Aid Information Page on the World Wide Web, the myth of billions of dollars in unclaimed financial aid from private organizations began after a 1976 study was released by the National Commission of Student Financial Assistance which said $6.6 billion of financial aid went unclaimed.

But Kantrowitz explained this figure is invalid because it includes tuition assistance programs from employers, which can only be taken advantage of when the employees have children attending college.

Scholarship search services use the figures from the almost 20-year-old study to try to seduce college students into paying a fee to be told what scholarships are out there.

‘If you have to pay money to get money, it’s probably a scam,’ Kantrowitz said.

Pat Johnson, associate director of financial aid and scholarship programs, agreed that very little financial aid from these private organizations money goes unclaimed each year.

‘The criteria may be so specific it may be difficult to get enough applications,’ Johnson said of why there may be a small amount of financial aid money from private organizations that goes untouched every year.

Johnson cited an example a few years ago when Target was awarding 10 scholarships, but only received six applications.

While the myth of unclaimed scholarship money prevails, private organizations do provide many students with a substantial chunk of change. According to Kantrowitz, 6.9 percent of undergraduate students received aid from private organizations averaging $2,051 each for the 1999 to 2000 academic year.

Kantrowitz said that the Internet has allowed students a greater ability to search and apply for scholarships. With this search process, finding scholarships through a database should mean students take no longer than a half an hour to complete the process.

However, Kantrowitz warned that students should not enter the process with the unrealistic picture that they can completely fund their college education with private scholarships.

While aid from private institutions can be a nice bonus, the vast majority is given out by through other avenues.

According to a report from collegeboard.com highlighting trends in student aid for 2002-2003, almost 50 percent of aid comes from federal loans and almost 20 percent from institutional grants.

This large amount of aid may hinder students getting scholarships from private institutions due to SU’s policy of taking away aid from students who receive a lot of outside scholarships.

According to Johnson, students may retain their private scholarships to fill any unmet need. If a student’s scholarship awards exceed the unmet need, however, the student’s Federal Stafford Loan or Federal Work Study may be reduced, a policy that angers many students.

‘I don’t think the school has a right to take away money from the aid the student would’ve received,’ Urquhart said.

Other factors that also discourage students from applying for private scholarship include the amount of research it takes to find scholarships to apply for as well as the time it takes to distinguish oneself through the application process, said Christopher Walsh, dean of financial aid for SU. But these factors can be overcome by dedicated students.

‘It’s about priorities,’ he said. ‘I’m hard-pressed to believe students only go to class and study.’

Returning students may have an even harder time getting aid from private institutions, as Walsh, Johnson, and Kantrowitz all said the pool of financial aid dollars from private organizations is less than that for incoming freshman.

‘There is somewhat fewer total awards for which current college students can apply,’ Kantrowitz said. ‘About half that is available to high school seniors.’

Johnson added that there simply aren’t a lot of scholarships available for returning students.

‘There is a lot more aid for entering freshmen,’ Walsh said. ‘Local community organizations are going to give to the graduating seniors.’

But even when scholarships are available, many students just can’t find the time to track everything down.

To help, the Office of Scholarship Programs currently provides a scholarship mass e-mail to notify students of available private scholarships. Johnson said the office also e-mails specific students if they receive notification of a scholarship that they should be able to get.

Urquhart, meanwhile, has not seen any of this help SU provides. But he did have it easy at his New Hampshire high school: The administration there collected information about scholarships and made it available to students, so the process was more accessible. If more information was available on private scholarships, he said more students would apply.

‘I think our student body here is very bright and motivated, and there are a lot of opportunities out there,’ Johnson said. ‘But it takes a lot of hard work and time and sometimes that’s a difficult thing for students to devote.’

Published on November 30, 2004 at 12:00 pm