So it’s nearing the end of the semester and chances are, you’re running a little low on points. What to do to survive the last month of school?

If you’re on financial aid, you can purchase extra points with the help of a low-cost loan from the Office of Financial Aid.

This is just one of the lesser-known services the Office of Financial Aid offers to students who already receive financial aid. During the 2005-2006 school year, the most recent year for which the Office of Financial Aid has final statistics, about 48 percent of students received need-based financial aid from all sources (grant, loan, and work-study). The average grant was $24,927 and the average overall package, including work-study and loan, was $29,465.

Another opportunity offered by the Office of Financial Aid is the Dana Grant, which allows students to participate in career-related summer internships without having to worry about the financial constraints that result from not taking a higher-paying job. Sophomores and juniors pursuing summer experiences can apply for the grant, which defrays costs like housing that are not covered by the internship.

“The Dana Grant gives students on financial aid an opportunity to explore internships they would not be able to do because they need jobs to earn money over the summer,” said Jess Rhodes ’07, who used her grant money to take on an internship at the Collin County Children Advocacy Center in Collin County, TX.

Another service that facilitates student ventures into the working world is the Service Careers Fellowship. This fellowship helps students explore low-cost loan options for replacing some or all of the usual summer earnings expectation counted toward the expected family contribution. The Service Careers Fellowship repays a large portion of a student’s senior year loan, which reduces overall debt, ensuring a smaller required monthly loan repayment amount. By reducing the debt a student owes after graduation, the fellowship enables graduating students to pursue careers in the service sector, where salaries are less competitive. Information on these and other such opportunities is available through the Career Resource Center.

Director of the Office of Financial Aid Jennifer Lawton hopes that Usdan University Center will help bring more students into her office.

“I also think that it is difficult for students to stop by the office as they rush between classes,” Lawton said. “I am hopeful that once the Usdan Center opens, our offices, located right next door, will be more accessible and that we’ll see more students stopping by with questions about the process, to drop off forms, or to meet with a staff member.”

Lawton said that a lot of student communication with the Office of Financial Aid occurs online.

“The financial aid process has becoming an increasingly electronic experience,” Lawton said. “On the one hand, the use of electronic technology means shortened turn-around rates for award letters and other processing. On the other, communicating by e-mail makes the very personal experience of sharing financial information a very impersonal experience.”

Technology is not the only thing changing financial aid. The Residential Comprehensive Fee (RCF), which charges students based on class year rather than according to room assignment, will allow students to receive support for the full cost of housing next year. This is in contrast to the earlier system, which gave students aid equivalent only to the cost of the least expensive housing, meaning students had to bridge the difference themselves to the tune of up to $1,400. Many students have had to take out loans to cover this difference.

“Students approached the administration about this issue last year, and after careful budget and policy review, we are pleased that funding for the additional $800,000 in grant aid that this initiative requires was approved,” Lawton said.

Lawton stressed that the May 15 re-application deadline is not the only financial aid deadline of the year.

“I think what most people don’t realize is that the Financial Aid Office is busy year round and that financial aid is a fast-paced, ever-changing field,” she said.

Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Nancy Hargrave Meislahn offered advice on how to stay on top of financial aid processes.

“Pay attention to details and deadlines,” she said. “Get to know your financial aid counselor, and ask questions whenever you don’t understand how a policy affects you and your situation.”