Alfredo Aparicio/Staff Writer
After classes are chosen, tuition is paid and the semester goes underway, students still have one more thing to look forward: refunds.
While the exact amount may differ from student to student, this is the time when many students sigh a sigh of relief because there is money to be spent.
How that money is being spent, however, is another story, considering scholarship money is on a steady decline and tuition is on the rise.
John Garcia, a junior business and accounting major, who receives Bright Futures and the Pell Grant, spends his refund depending on his needs at the time he receives it.
“I use it depending it on what I need or want. I save some and the rest is spent on sudden whims,” said Garcia.
For Nicolle Mierisch, a junior transfer student majoring in environmental science who receives Bright Futures, the refund provides an opportunity to pay for gas, food and help out at home with bills, even though her scholarship has been cut since she started college.
“It makes me mad when people who already have an iPhone use their refund money to buy a new one or an updated one, for example,” said Mierisch. “Though, I did use my refund money to buy my first car, but it wasn’t new and it was necessary since I’m a commuter.”
Some students, like Jennifer Robles, a senior english major who receives Bright Futures and, recently, the Leverage Grant, does not even receive a refund after paying for classes. In fact, paying for classes is usually divided between her parents, with her mother paying off the difference after the scholarships are used and her father paying for textbooks.
“My parents pay tuition and textbooks using credit cards. It’s so stupid when people use their refunds for other things when I’m having to pay $2,000 for summer classes,” said Robles. “My brother can only pay for his classes through loans and though we both work, it’s not enough.”
Aniza Cantillo, a freshman social work major who also only receives the Leverage Grant and pays the rest of her classes through Florida Prepaid, uses her refund for gas and acknowledges the usefulness of the refund in paying for new textbooks she might need after the beginning of school.
“I carpool, so my refund is used for gas,” said Cantillo. Sometimes I have to pick up my sister and then go run errands, but my parents usually pay for any school related things I might need.”
Victor Guerrero, a junior anthropology major who also uses loans to pay for expenses, has had to pay some of his classes out of pocket, although he saves any refunds he receives.
“I save it for textbooks, school supplies, etc. because I’ll have to pay it back eventually, so it’s better to save as much as I can when I can,” said Guerrero.
For Guerrero, students who receive scholarship refunds should have the right to decide what they choose to spend it on.
“I didn’t work as hard as I could’ve in high school, but they did, they earned it. Although it is kind of messed up when people can use it for other reasons when they could donate it to another student or an organization. There’s always other ways to spend the refund,” said Guerrero.
-alfredo.aparicio@fiusm.com
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