Students Answer The $2K Question

STUDENT LIFE

At the beginning of this month, more than 3,000 undergraduates got a letter from Byerly Hall playing Ed McMahon.

The letter explained that Harvard's financial aid increase in September meant a $2,000 scholarship payoff for every student now receiving aid. Students were offered a choice--apply that windfall towards reducing student loans, job requirements or both.

But two weeks after the deadline for making that decision passed, half of those students still haven't responded.

Although some say Harvard Mail Services is at fault, that's still 1,500 needy undergraduates who have yet to take the money and run. The financial aid office is sending all these delinquent recipients another letter today, giving them a week to 10 days for decision-making.

But this letter shouldn't be just a formality, to be left to rot under with your telephone bills. It's a blank check good for a year off of work, a summer without saving or a graduation not clouded by the prospect of life in consulting purgatory.

The trick is to develop a strategy for spending, a plan for that $2,000 suited to your life at Harvard. The following is an investment guide for the new tuition boost.

For you shall know the truth, and the truth shall shrink your fees.

The Options: Loans and Work-Study

Every undergraduate financial aid package begins with self-help requirements--from $6,850 to 7,900 in loans and work-study per year. This number assumes that a student has no outside scholarships, which will be subtracted out of self-help requirements under the new aid plan. About $2,000 of this self-help is accounted for by a term-time job. That leaves $5,000 to 6,000 annually in student loans.

Harvard's class of 1998 walked out of the Yardat Commencement loan-heavy, an average $16,500 indebt.

And according to William Wright-Swadel,director of the Office of Career Services (OCS),that loan debt affects the career plans of manyCollege graduates.

"As they were making [career] choices, theywere clearly impacted by the amount of debtcarried," Wright-Swadel said.

He said students interested in public serviceand education careers, traditionallyhigh-fulfillment and low-paying fields, "reallyfelt they needed to do something else first" inorder to pay back their loans.

The other half of self-help is a term-time job.About two-thirds of Harvard students with jobs aresupported by federal work-study funds. Thefinancial aid office says most students work eightto 12 hours per week to meet their $2,000commitment.

The down side of working at the Collegeterm-time is that students often miss out onextracurricular activities and schoolwork becauseof their jobs. With the additional $2,000 inscholarship moneys now in every needy student'saccount at Byerly Hall, it's possible to basicallyeliminate a job requirement for the year or cutstudent loans in half.

Alternately, students can split the moneybetween loans and work and come out a littlebetter in both departments. Or perhaps trade off,switching between reductions in loans and workloadevery year as schedule priorities change.

So which option fits best? Answering thefollowing questions should be a good start towardsthe right decision.

Age Matters

Financial aid experts say where you are in yourHarvard career should play a big role in designingan individualized aid package.

For first-years, they say, it might be betterto get rid of the job. Dorm Crew supervisor RobertWolfreys says first-years that work often findthemselves in over their heads come midtermseason.

And Director of Financial Aid James S. Milleragrees, saying he thinks first-years will opt togive themselves a light workload while adjustingto the Harvard grind.

Seniors should also take it easy, the expertssay, at least when it comes to time spent on thejob. With the demands of thesis work, graduateschool applications and job-hunting, one moresemester of work-study may be too much.

What Free Time?

Christa M. Franklin '98-'99 works 12 hours perweek at Morse Music Library upstairs at HillesLibrary. In semesters past, she has spent up to 30hours a week on work-study and term-time jobs.

During her first year at Harvard, Franklin saysshe made a conscious choice to focus onextracurriculars despite the workload herfinancial aid package required. Franklin says shepaid for that decision in declining grades andwishes she could have done more extracurriculars.

"If I'd had this option my freshman year, mylife would have been a lot different," she says."I actually would have studied more, and I neverauditioned for an a cappella group...because Ididn't have the time."

Across campus, students working for dorm crew,research labs and libraries all say the samething. Working during the school year sometimesmeans choosing between good grades andextracurricular activities.

"I work 15 hours a week, and it's another halfan hour getting to work," says Christine Y. Chiou'01. "That time could be used for a majorextracurricular, but it's really hard to do thatwhen I have to work three afternoons a week."

And so, in deciding where to put your money,your plans for life at Harvard should perhaps bean even bigger consideration than your class year.Students and officials say working more than 10hours a week during terms sometimes makes itdifficult to balance extracurriculars and atypical Harvard course load.

So You Like Your Job...

The solution to balancing school and work maybe finding the right job. Director of StudentEmployment Martha H. Homer says her office oftenhelps students find positions in community serviceand labs that pay well, and are as interesting andresume-building as an extracurricular.

Ray A. Wynter '96 says he is testimony to thefact that jobs can be enjoyable. A psychologyconcentrator who ran track as an undergraduateWynter also worked 17 hours a week at anoff-campus loan office.

"It was pretty good for me," Wynter says. "Iwas looking for another experience off-campus. Itwas good for me to spend time with people whoweren't talking about finals and midterms."

But if it's important to you to pursue atime-intensive and unpaid extracurricular, perhapsreducing your job commitment is a good idea.

"I have the rest of my life to pay off myloans," Franklin says. "Extracurriculars are sucha big part of life at Harvard."

Got Career Plans

But many recent graduates are not quite soblithe about the burden of loan debt.

They say the prospect of paying off tens ofthousands of dollars in loans often means a stintin a high-paying field like consulting orinvestment banking or a desperate search for thefellowship of one's dreams.

Tamara V. Tai '98 says the only reason she wasable to afford pursuing a career in teaching wasTeach for America. The federally funded programlets her to put off paying back student loans fortwo years while she teaches in a bilingualclassroom in Phoenix, Ariz.

"If it wasn't for Teach for America, I mighthave had to get a better paying job aftergraduation," says Tai, who amassed close to$15,000 in loans while at Harvard. "I loveteaching and would do anything to pursue it, butthe loans are there and I need to pay them off."

Kristy L. Garcia '98 says she has spent thefive months since graduation saving up for the daywhen she tries to break into the publishing orentertainment industries while facing close to$20,000 in loans.

"It didn't really hit me until second semesterof senior year," says Garcia from her home in SanJose, Calif. "I went through my year just signingaway loans, thinking I'll pay it back at somepoint."

Garcia is now working to consolidate her loansso she can pay them back at a lower interest rate.Starting in January, Garcia will pay $40 a monthuntil she pays back $2,000 in federal Perkinsloans and from $100 to 200 a month before she isfree from $18,000 in Stafford loans.

Stories like Garcia's have hit home withundergraduates like William W. Cai '01. A physicsconcentrator who works for a physics professor ina high energy physics lab, Cai says he works fiveto 12 hours a week because he has the time.

"I don't want the extra debt," says Cai, whosees graduate school in his post-Harvard future."Work fits into my schedule now, so I'm going towork."A-8PACKAGETricia MorenteCrimsonCHRISTA M. FRANKLIN, '98-'99, and WILLIAM W.CAI '01 on the job.

Harvard's class of 1998 walked out of the Yardat Commencement loan-heavy, an average $16,500 indebt.

And according to William Wright-Swadel,director of the Office of Career Services (OCS),that loan debt affects the career plans of manyCollege graduates.

"As they were making [career] choices, theywere clearly impacted by the amount of debtcarried," Wright-Swadel said.

He said students interested in public serviceand education careers, traditionallyhigh-fulfillment and low-paying fields, "reallyfelt they needed to do something else first" inorder to pay back their loans.

The other half of self-help is a term-time job.About two-thirds of Harvard students with jobs aresupported by federal work-study funds. Thefinancial aid office says most students work eightto 12 hours per week to meet their $2,000commitment.

The down side of working at the Collegeterm-time is that students often miss out onextracurricular activities and schoolwork becauseof their jobs. With the additional $2,000 inscholarship moneys now in every needy student'saccount at Byerly Hall, it's possible to basicallyeliminate a job requirement for the year or cutstudent loans in half.

Alternately, students can split the moneybetween loans and work and come out a littlebetter in both departments. Or perhaps trade off,switching between reductions in loans and workloadevery year as schedule priorities change.

So which option fits best? Answering thefollowing questions should be a good start towardsthe right decision.

Age Matters

Financial aid experts say where you are in yourHarvard career should play a big role in designingan individualized aid package.

For first-years, they say, it might be betterto get rid of the job. Dorm Crew supervisor RobertWolfreys says first-years that work often findthemselves in over their heads come midtermseason.

And Director of Financial Aid James S. Milleragrees, saying he thinks first-years will opt togive themselves a light workload while adjustingto the Harvard grind.

Seniors should also take it easy, the expertssay, at least when it comes to time spent on thejob. With the demands of thesis work, graduateschool applications and job-hunting, one moresemester of work-study may be too much.

What Free Time?

Christa M. Franklin '98-'99 works 12 hours perweek at Morse Music Library upstairs at HillesLibrary. In semesters past, she has spent up to 30hours a week on work-study and term-time jobs.

During her first year at Harvard, Franklin saysshe made a conscious choice to focus onextracurriculars despite the workload herfinancial aid package required. Franklin says shepaid for that decision in declining grades andwishes she could have done more extracurriculars.

"If I'd had this option my freshman year, mylife would have been a lot different," she says."I actually would have studied more, and I neverauditioned for an a cappella group...because Ididn't have the time."

Across campus, students working for dorm crew,research labs and libraries all say the samething. Working during the school year sometimesmeans choosing between good grades andextracurricular activities.

"I work 15 hours a week, and it's another halfan hour getting to work," says Christine Y. Chiou'01. "That time could be used for a majorextracurricular, but it's really hard to do thatwhen I have to work three afternoons a week."

And so, in deciding where to put your money,your plans for life at Harvard should perhaps bean even bigger consideration than your class year.Students and officials say working more than 10hours a week during terms sometimes makes itdifficult to balance extracurriculars and atypical Harvard course load.

So You Like Your Job...

The solution to balancing school and work maybe finding the right job. Director of StudentEmployment Martha H. Homer says her office oftenhelps students find positions in community serviceand labs that pay well, and are as interesting andresume-building as an extracurricular.

Ray A. Wynter '96 says he is testimony to thefact that jobs can be enjoyable. A psychologyconcentrator who ran track as an undergraduateWynter also worked 17 hours a week at anoff-campus loan office.

"It was pretty good for me," Wynter says. "Iwas looking for another experience off-campus. Itwas good for me to spend time with people whoweren't talking about finals and midterms."

But if it's important to you to pursue atime-intensive and unpaid extracurricular, perhapsreducing your job commitment is a good idea.

"I have the rest of my life to pay off myloans," Franklin says. "Extracurriculars are sucha big part of life at Harvard."

Got Career Plans

But many recent graduates are not quite soblithe about the burden of loan debt.

They say the prospect of paying off tens ofthousands of dollars in loans often means a stintin a high-paying field like consulting orinvestment banking or a desperate search for thefellowship of one's dreams.

Tamara V. Tai '98 says the only reason she wasable to afford pursuing a career in teaching wasTeach for America. The federally funded programlets her to put off paying back student loans fortwo years while she teaches in a bilingualclassroom in Phoenix, Ariz.

"If it wasn't for Teach for America, I mighthave had to get a better paying job aftergraduation," says Tai, who amassed close to$15,000 in loans while at Harvard. "I loveteaching and would do anything to pursue it, butthe loans are there and I need to pay them off."

Kristy L. Garcia '98 says she has spent thefive months since graduation saving up for the daywhen she tries to break into the publishing orentertainment industries while facing close to$20,000 in loans.

"It didn't really hit me until second semesterof senior year," says Garcia from her home in SanJose, Calif. "I went through my year just signingaway loans, thinking I'll pay it back at somepoint."

Garcia is now working to consolidate her loansso she can pay them back at a lower interest rate.Starting in January, Garcia will pay $40 a monthuntil she pays back $2,000 in federal Perkinsloans and from $100 to 200 a month before she isfree from $18,000 in Stafford loans.

Stories like Garcia's have hit home withundergraduates like William W. Cai '01. A physicsconcentrator who works for a physics professor ina high energy physics lab, Cai says he works fiveto 12 hours a week because he has the time.

"I don't want the extra debt," says Cai, whosees graduate school in his post-Harvard future."Work fits into my schedule now, so I'm going towork."A-8PACKAGETricia MorenteCrimsonCHRISTA M. FRANKLIN, '98-'99, and WILLIAM W.CAI '01 on the job.