If someone steals from you would you let it go? Of course you wouldn’t. Well that is exactly what some students at TJC are doing with your money.
Many students who attend this college are here on financial aid. Financial aid is money that is loaned out to a student in order for that student to attend an institute of higher learning.
Financial aid is not free money, and that is what a lot of students cannot comprehend or they just don’t care. There have been many occasions where I have heard students talk about how they can’t wait for their refund check cause their car payment is due or they need a new cell phone, etc.
In order to receive a refund check, a student must be on the official roll count, so for some that means that they will attend school for a couple of days then jet out as soon as they “get paid.” Students, this is not ok. You are not getting paid to “attend” college; you are receiving a loan to help you get an education that must be paid back once you have the means to do so.
This is not free money, and by that I mean that you have to pay for it. I have to pay for it. Your parents have to pay for it and every other taxpayer. It makes me extremely upset at the fact that we as taxpayers, are paying for someone to basically steal from the system.
Not only does this make me upset as a taxpayer, but it makes me upset as a student. TJC cannot deny access to anyone who wants to attend this institution. Correct, but classes do fill up. I know that I am not the only one who looks for specific instructors when trying to enroll in courses. If the class is full and they cannot squeeze any additional students in, it upsets me knowing that some students will drop after the first month anyway. Because of those students, I was not able to get the course that I wanted.
To all the students who believe that they are “beating the system,” the only thing that you are to me is a waste of a parking space, and we all know that those are limited.
These students believe that they are being sneaky and smart about what they are doing. I have news for them. They’re wrong. If a student is attending college on financial aid, they must complete 67 percent of the courses they enrolled in. If a student fails to do so, he or she will not be eligible the next time around.
Please understand that I am not complaining about this just to hear myself talk, or I guess it would be to read my own words, but you as students and as taxpayers should be just as upset. Every mistake that these students are making affects us all in one way or another, and it will be a sad day if and when these students ruin it for all of us.
Who knows, if this continues to be an issue for long, the financial aid system might have tighter requirements and less funding to loan. Lets hope that someone else’s poor decisions don’t harm all of us who are receiving financial aid.
