Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 2
Thank you for the opportunity to present this proposal to you. We appreciate your
consideration. You can be assured we will use any and all resources available to make
this pamphlet come to fruition.
Sincerely,
Joshua Malcolm
Group Leader
(Josh13222@gmail.com)
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 3
Executive Summary
Salt Lake Community College is a state operated two-year public school with
approximately 60,000 enrolled and participating students through credit and non-credit
courses as well as workshops each year. Founded in 1948 through humble beginnings,
Salt Lake Community College has become one of the greatest vocational institutions in
the Intermountain area. SLCCs fundamental beliefs are based on a student-focused
curriculum and aspire to assist in the ever changing needs of the local population
Students are seeking to further their education now more than ever with a competitive
workforce education is no longer becoming an option. But at what cost? Students often
seek financial support to pay their tuition through various lending programs and in the
end have difficulty paying these loans back and misunderstand the terms of their loan.
According to an article entitled Student Loan Assistance roughly 65% of high-debt
student loan borrowers were surprised or misunderstood aspects of their loans or the
borrowing process
Herein lies the problem. Students ought to be aware of what they are signing to and what
repercussions exist should they fail to fulfill their portion of the contract. In another
article it is stated that there is approximately $864 billion in outstanding federal student
loan debt, while the remaining $150 billion is in private loans.
In assembling a usable pamphlet, the design and information will be compiled using
many published resources. Using different source guides such as information booklets
about federal student loans, varying websites such as the NASFAA, studentaid.ed.gov,
and conducting interviews with the members of the financial aid office as well as students
on campus, we were able to collect a wide variety of evidence which we found
informative in supporting the basis of our proposal.
Our solution for combating the issue of student loan debt is bringing together all of the
data we conducted and received into one pamphlet that will provide all the information a
student needs before considering a student loan. The pamphlet will include pros and cons
of having student loan debt, how to be more aware of scholarship or grant programs
available, being more conservative in how much debt they accrue (possibly considering
being employed while in school), and choosing a career path which will enable them to
pay back loans more efficiently. There will be a section including statistics of students
from various categories with student loans.
We believe the information weve worked diligently to compile will assist many students
in becoming more knowledgeable about the full aspects of student loans and other
options available to them and help strengthen the future generations of students,
offering alternative options in becoming educated without accruing mass amounts of
debt, which could result in defaulted loans, ruined credit and in some circumstances
termination of current employment.
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 4
Pamphlet description
Our service learning objective is to produce a pamphlet for SLCC targeting students
considering financial aid. Its purpose will be to inform them of the reality of their
obligations once their education has been completed; also proper use of funds obtained
through the financial aid department and helpful tips on how to manage debt.
This pamphlet will be broken down into 6 pages:
Page 1. Title page Be Smart, Dont ruin your life before it starts.
A catchy heading.
Picture and graphics that will relate to SLCC and Debt.
Page 2. Stats and information that will stimulate awareness about student debt.
Page 3. Stats and info continued.
General info on school loans and debt.
Good debt and bad debt.
What is the difference?
Page 4. Educate yourself.
Amount deeded to graduate.
Salary amount of the field individual going into.
Is it worth the debt considered compared to how much will be made in the desired
career.
Page 5. Alternatives and solutions to avoid unnecessary debt.
Tuition waivers.
Scholarships.
Tax write off.
Government grants.
Conclusion.
Page 6. Contact info and Links.
Info for more information.
Links.
Phone numbers.
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 5
Purpose of Pamphlet
Many students dont understand debt and have an attitude: that even if they get student
loans they dont need it doesnt matter because they can pay them off when they get out
of school and start earning more money. This though is not always the case and students
should become more educated about debt management. This pamphlet will educate
students about debt so they can better plan for their future more intelligently. The
following are the issues that the pamphlet will address.
Creating more awareness of student debt at SLCC.
SLCC is an affordable school but there is no aggregate limit on student loans at SLCC.
This brings the problem of students taking out more loans than needed and increasing
their debt more than necessary.
Educate students about how their finance choices today will affect their future.
Many students dont realize how the accumulation of large debt for school could have
detrimental effect on their future. Many students graduate school with absorbent amount
of debt and no job to pay for it. Even students who find a good job after school still live
in poverty due to the fact they have to pay so much on their loans. The ones that are not
as lucky and dont find a good job cant pay to live and pay off their loans as agreed.
Resulting in their credit score getting ruined, making it really hard to buy a car, a house
or any other of lifes essentials.
What options are available to keep debt down?
Many student dont know how many different ways there are to save money on school.
Tuition waver, scholarships, tax write offs are the main ones and will be addressed in the
pamphlet.
Educate on debt management, taxes, and credit and how to use them to their
advantage.
There is good debt and bad debt and many students are unaware of the difference.
Creating large amounts of unnecessary debt by taking out unnecessary loans when going
to school can turn into bad debt really fast. Good debt is more of an asset and is used to
create a better future thus justifying the needed loans to get there.
There are programs available to help students with their loans. SLCC-Specialist II, a
student assistance position that helps students through email, phone and in person
complete the FASA application, understand financial aid requirements/literacy and work
with other benefit programs such as Workforce Services and Native American Tribes.
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 6
More students graduate with increased loan debt and misunderstand the complexities of
borrowing. Specialist II directs training and assists students in understanding actual cost
of borrowing and understand the process of applying for aid
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 7
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 8
Organization of Project
Responsibilities:
With prior experience in creating business documents and Business communication, we
as a group are confident that we will fulfill our responsibilities in creating a useful
Pamphlet educating students about school debt.
Our Responsibilities:
In creating this pamphlet we as a team will compile useful data, information and then
organize it in a simple easy to understand way. We than will incorporate it into a
pamphlet for the use of students that attend SLCC. The fallowing will be a list of team
members and responsibilities that each one will fulfill:
Leader - Josh Malcolm- Outline of project, organize data to be used in the Pamphlet
Scribe - Cameron Owen- Statistics research and compile data and graphs to be used as
reliable resources.
Organizer Joscif Raigne Organization, editing and communication lead.
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 9
Designer and graphics Noel Curtis Pamphlet designer and installment of graphics
and any other visual tasks.
We as a group, once pamphlet is created, will each edit and create feedback and apply
these edits in order to strengthen the pamphlet purpose.
Site preparation:
It also will be our responsibly to gather campus info in order to find the best places to
install these pamphlets on campus. With primary targets already known: the financial aid
office and student advisor offices. All other installment locations will need to be in
populated, easy accessible locations.
Conclusion
We appreciate the prospect of submitting the proposed information for your approval.
We are confident the information weve collected and compiled suggests a solution that
can assist and provide knowledge to students who are currently enrolled in college and
the future generations of students. Based on the interviews, exploration and evaluation,
our proposal offers knowledgeable intake as to what precautions students can take when
considering student loans and how it might affect their future financial situation.
As a team, we feel confident submitting newly found research and information to Salt
Lake Community College for review. Our main objective is to provide students with all
possible aspects and information about student loan debt and to ensure there are no
unanswered questions. We hope the evidence presented in this proposal will be
considered informative and used as a beneficial tool for incoming students as well as
students who are currently enrolled.
Should you feel there are any discrepancies with the information which has been
provided, or require further evidence supporting the proposal, please contact Josh
Malcolm, who will send the necessary documents that meet your requirements.
We look forward to hearing your assessment.
Patty Clifford
November 13, 2014
Page 10
Sources
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-college-debt
http://budgeting.thenest.com/debt-affect-job-22777.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/20/student-debtdistress_n_5682736.html
-SLCC Financial Aid - IBP Presentation 2013-14