Observer, Volume 16, Number 18, Thursday May 25 1995


Low-income student loan fund is class of 1995 gift

In early April senior class president Gabrielle Zadra announced the class of 1995's gift project: establishing a low-income student emergency fund. One month later about $17,000 has been raised, including about $6,500 from members of the senior class, according to assistant director of the annual fund Liesl Strickler. Other students, faculty and staff members, OSCA (the Oberlin student cooperative association), and alumni have also contributed to the fund.

"Sometimes our students come up short in meeting their term bills by a small amount of money," says President Nancy S. Dye. "A good emergency loan fund is one way to address this situation."

The problem is particularly difficult for first-generation college students who enter Oberlin unprepared for unexpected lab fees and high book-bills, explains Joanna Messing '95, chair of the low-income student alliance, which is helping raise money for the fund. Despite scholarships, loans, and part-time employment, she says, some low-income students find themselves unable to pay their bills in full. Illness, difficulty in finding adequate employment during the academic year and in the summer, and changes in family income, such as the sudden layoff of a parent, all take bites out of a student's ability to close the often small but important gap between paying and not paying.

"This fund is a crucial step towards improving the experience of low-income students and making higher education more accessible," says Zadra. "The loan fund will help to provide a safety net. For many, it could be the factor which allows them to continue their education at Oberlin."

The dean of student life and services will administer the fund. It will provide no-interest loans for low-income students who have exhausted all other options for paying their term bill. Students may apply for a loan once each semester as needed, but they must repay it by the end of that term; any student defaulting on the loan payment will be ineligible for future loans. At the time they apply for loans, students must present a plan for repayment.


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