To increase student’s financial literacy, St. Thomas Financial Aid is giving presentations and providing more information about loans through mailings and its website.

The department has given presentations on campus for many years and is required to give debt counseling at the beginning and end of students’ college careers, according to Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Kris Roach. She said students will now be mailed their debt reports annually, rather than only at their entrance and exit to the university.

Roach said this effort is a result of a growing trend at schools across the country as well as direction from President Julie Sullivan.

“We want to beef up what we’re already doing,” Roach said. “We’re trying to share with students annually what we think they’ve borrowed and what their cumulative debt is so that, instead of just at the point of entry and graduation, you would get more consistent information about what your debt is.”

Roach said the exact system is not set because the department is evaluating what information its systems are capable of providing, but the department plans to roll out some improvements over the next few semesters.

One challenge the financial aid office is facing is that St. Thomas will only be able to inform students of the loans they’ve taken that the university has been involved in. Any outside loans are completely up to the student to stay on top of, according to Roach.

“We want to make sure that we’re giving accurate information, and the challenge of not knowing if you’ve gone and borrowed from another bank makes that difficult,” Roach said. “I don’t know that we’re going to be able to bridge that gap.”

Eventually, Roach hopes the department’s efforts will keep students’ minds on their finances between freshman year and graduation.

“Along the way, the hope is that students are talking with their personal financial aid officers about what they’re borrowing, how they might finance it and if they have questions,” Roach said.

Senior Mitchell Wolff said more frequent updates would be useful for students.

“You get the initial estimate at the start of your college career, and then you get the statement at the end once everything is said and done, but a lot of the things that happen during the middle are kind of lost because you’re worried about things like classes, and you don’t have time to focus on the finances,” Wolff said.

The overall goal, according to Roach, is to inform students about their financial situation so they can make wise fiscal decisions.

“It’s about wise choices, responsible borrowing and not letting the numbers scare you, but being educated about it and then knowing how to manage it on the back end,” Roach said. “It’s about knowing it’s a reality but that you can manage it.”

Simeon Lancaster can be reached at lanc4637@stthomas.edu.