With the soaring costs of education, some students who have lost their scholarships are opting to attend cheaper two-year colleges, get student loans or just quit school altogether.
An important scholarship that some students have lost is the Hope Lottery Scholarship.
Mark McClellan, coordinator of the Hope Scholarship at The University of Memphis, feels that it is really up to each individual regarding which course of action to take.
"Some students don't know that the Lottery Scholarship can be regained by having a 3.0 GPA at certain checkpoints," he said.
These checkpoints are when a student reaches 24, 48, 72 and 96 credit hours. However, McClellan said a student could only regain the scholarship once.
"If a student gets their scholarship reinstated at the 48-credit hour checkpoint and then it is lost again at the 72-hour checkpoint, they can't get it back," he said.
Some students, like Troy Wiggins, a junior English major, said they are just afraid of having to pay back debt after graduation.
"No one wants to go to school and then end up in a lot of debt," Wiggins said.
He also said that the debt factor plays a role in how he views his education.
"If you are going to have to pay a lot money back, then you may as well get a good education," he said.
McClellan agreed with that sentiment and offers other options for students who find themselves on the wrong side of the financial aid tracks.
"To save money students can just drop their course load down instead of just quitting," he said. "Of course it will take longer, but you will still get your education."
He said that debt happens when students borrow more than they need.
"It's important for students to borrow what they need and not just what they are eligible for," McClellan said.
Wallace Starke, a graduate student, feels that debt is not that much of a worry where education is concerned.
"Getting a good education is much more important than a little debt," he said.
McClellan said that some students don't know that their lottery GPA is different from their U of M GPA. The lottery scholarship GPA includes all classes including repeats, which is why they sometimes differ.
He said students have several options for paying back college loans, which are all very reasonable.
"What most students experience with paying off debt is associated with credit card debt which is much different from student loan debt," McClellan said.
