TCC requires loan recipients to show budgets

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY/AP) - A community college in Hampton Roads plans to require students to submit a budget detailing how they'll repay their federal financial aid before releasing their loans.

Starting this fall, Tidewater Community College will require student borrowers to submit repayment plans and budget worksheets as a condition of the loan process. Financial-aid officials will require them to provide estimates of monthly payments, projected salaries based on the careers they plan to pursue, and their borrowing history from TCC or other colleges or universities.

Officials at the school, with campuses in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth, say they want to help students connect the dots between borrowing now and repaying later.

"This is just an effort to give them a little more piece of financial literacy," said TCC Vice President of Finance Phyllis Milloy, who added that the material submitted will not impact a student's ability to obtain a loan.

"What we hope to achieve is that the students will take time to think about the implications of taking out a loan," Milloy said.

Officials hope it will also encourage students to think about how they will manage their repayment plan once they graduate.

"I think it would be a nice idea to get people in the mindset of having to repay things," student Latron Baker told WAVY News 10.

Student Jasmine Mithell agreed.  "You want to have a plan, like you have a career goal, you want to start planning ahead, so it won't just like hit you at once."

TCC students received $31.4 million in federal student loans in 2009-10, the most recent figures available. The average one-year loan amount was just under $4,000.

The school also requires loan recipients to re-apply for loans annually, so those students already receiving loans will be subject to the new requirement this fall.

(Zinie Chen Sampson, Associated Press, contributed to this report)