A Program of the Louisiana Board of Regents
LSUA, CLTCC student government presidents elected to state boards
July 29, 2019

For the first time in Central Louisiana history, the two student body presidents at LSUA and CLTCC have been selected to serve on their respective system board of directors in the same year.

Richard “Ricky” Brazzel at LSU-Alexandria and Shanco Williams at Central Louisiana Technical Community College help protect student interests when questions regarding funding, fees, and degree programs are brought before the boards. 

Williams (center, in the picture above) also serves on LOSFA's Advisory Board as the student board member.

He is a native of New Orleans who enrolled at CLTCC following a 20-year career in the United States Air Force. Williams holds a bachelor's degree in management from Wayland Baptist University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He is currently studying drafting and design at CLTCC and hopes to join the Army Corps of Engineers Drafting Department, in New Orleans, as a veteran.

“Being elected to serve on the LCTCS Board allows me to interpret data in order to make informed decisions and vote with the students' best long-term interest in mind,” says Williams. 
Making the FAFSA Mandatory
July 10, 2019

Texas will become the second state (Louisiana was the first) to require high school seniors to submit an application for federal student aid, a step that higher ed researchers say is linked to college enrollment.

During the past academic year, Louisiana saw FAFSA completions by high school students climb by more than 25 percent.

According to  numbers from the National College Access N etwork, Louisiana ranks first among all states this financial aid cycle, with a completion rate of 78.7 percent. Texas ranks a distant 31.

Dr. Sujuan Boutté​, executive director of the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance, said the complexity of the form remains the biggest obstacle for students and parents, whether or not a state requires completion.

“It’s not just going to happen. There are going to have to be strategies in place,” she said.

Click below to read the Inside Higher Ed article, which includes LOSFA's approach to engaging students and parents when it comes to FAFSA completion.
High schoolers have fun GEARing UP at camp
July 9, 2019

Students from different high schools were on the campus of Grambling State University as part of the summer learning camps offered by Louisiana GEAR UP .

Louisiana GEAR UP partnered with several colleges and universities around the state to offer students opportunities to continue academic prep work.

One of the highlights from the GSU camp involved students learning to build drones out of popsicle sticks.

One Carroll High School ninth-grade student told a KNOE reporter, "Summer's been boring lately. Nothing has really been happening. So, I just came to it just because. It turned out to be really fun."

Click on the button below to watch KNOE's story.
Louisiana tops the nation in FAFSA applicants
July 9, 2019

According to the National College Access Network’s FAFSA tracker, Louisiana ranks number one throughout the nation for application completion for the second consecutive year.

Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance Executive Director Dr. Sujuan Boutté says the numbers are a big win for the state.

Boutté says the growth in applications demonstrates that students are becoming more proactive about continuing education beyond high school.

“More students [are] becoming eligible for TOPS, more students [are] graduating, we’re even seeing increases in the number of students eligible for Performance and Honors awards of TOPS,” said Boutté.
Photos Shared on Social Media
LOSFA's Communications Director , Brittany Francis, and Web & Multimedia Specialist , Andrew Granger, shared information on digital storytelling at the 20th annual conference of the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP), in San Francisco, California.

We loved learning from our wonderful colleagues!!! - GEAR UP Topeka (Kansas)
Other Related News
The Future of Higher Education and Industry
July 22, 2019

Social media manager. App developer. Uber driver and Podcast producer.

These are jobs that didn’t exist 35 years ago.

And as current trends go, there will undoubtedly be a number of new professions that will be created over the next decade or so, forcing higher education leaders to rethink how they train and prepare students for the emerging workforce.

“In many ways, higher education has experienced a radical transformation quickly, one that requires continual updates,” says Dr. Kenneth C. Parker, an education consultant who studies trends in education. “The challenge is whether institutions are readying themselves to meet these challenges.”
How a summer job could burn your financial aid for college
What counts and doesn’t count toward the amount of income students can earn
July 21, 2019

According to the Pew Research Center, roughly one-third of teenagers have summer jobs.

Some students may have jobs in order to help pay for college, but that money could affect the financial aid they receive.

Penalizing working students may sound unfair, but annual earnings are excluded from the financial aid formula — to a point.

For dependent students, “The FAFSA wipes out any income earned at $6,660 or below,” says MorraLee Keller, director of technical assistance for the National College Access Network, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. If you exceed the maximum, the formula counts half the excess earnings.

For example, if a student worked at an ice cream shop and earned $10.45 an hour (the median for food service workers according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), they'd have to work more than 630 hours to hit the income maximum.

That’s not likely over the summer, but you could earn more than $10,600 by working 20 hours a week at that salary for the entire year.

In that instance, the FAFSA would ignore $6,600, and $2,000 of the remaining $4,000 would affect your EFC.
New Survey Finds College Students Lack Financial Literacy
July 15, 2019

Today’s college students are feeling unprepared to manage their finances and have already accumulated high amounts of debt, according to a recent survey by EVERFI.

The report, titled “ Money Matters on Campus ”, focused on students’ financial experience and knowledge. It included 30,000 college student participants from 440 institutions in 45 states.
It found that six in 10 students have taken or intend to take loans out to cover their tuition bills. However, only 65 percent actually plan to pay off those loans on time and in full.

Ray Martinez, co-founder and president of EVERFI’s Financial Education and Conduct and Culture divisions, believes that many families remain unaware of the full cost of attending college. This results in students needing to take out loans because they were unprepared financially.

“One of the most important investments you’re going to make in your life is around where you’re going to attend college,” said Martinez. “And I don’t believe as a country we’ve done a great job of preparing students and families before they’re making that decision. A lot of these decisions are emotional decisions for students and I think there needs to be much more of a financial lens as you’re making these decisions.”
About LOSFA
The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), a program of the Louisiana Board of Regents, strives to be Louisiana's first choice for college access by promoting, preparing for and providing equity of college access.