Economy Podcast

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Lack of parental support cripple students financially

Kari Ross, a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will not graduate with her friends. She will never watch a basketball game at the Mullins Center. And she will never experience spring in New England.

That’s because she cannot afford to stay another semester at UMass, and must return home.

“I really want to stay here. I’ve made so many friends and I love living in the dorms, but I just can’t afford it,” said Ross.

Ross is among the many UMass students today who are supporting themselves through college without parental support. Financial aid is out of their grasp, because their parents refuse to sign for documentation or loans or prevent them from qualifying for substantial financial aid packages.

With increasing tuition and interest rates for loans, students are most likely to find a more difficult time successfully getting through college without financial aid, and signs show that there are few solutions to this problem.