Paying For College

Transcript

Okay, it’s time to meet Kira from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Kira is a first generation college student. She’s a junior at UNI majoring in elementary education with a minor in theater. Like so many other students here. She appreciates UNI’s affordability and also the variety of financial aid opportunities. You’re up Kira.

Thanks, Alex. Alright, so before I was in high school I had actually never been to a college campus before. Neither of my parents went to college so I was the first person in my family to go to a four year university. I didn’t know much about college except that it was expensive. At UNI nine out of 10 students actually receive some kind of financial aid and UNI has a great system for working with you to help get it all figured out. They have an office full of people who would love to help you and they truly wanna see everyone succeed. I’ve only ever had one issue where one of my scholarships didn’t go through right away and the office of Financial aid and scholarships was super helpful. I haven’t had a question yet that they couldn’t answer. Each year, my family and I fill out the FAFSA or the Free Application For Federal Student Aid and the UNI scholarship application and it gets easier each time. The great thing about the UNI scholarship application is that once you fill it out you’re automatically considered for scholarships. I’ve had such a great three years at UNI and I wanna say to anyone out there who feels overwhelmed by the idea of paying for college UNI is there to help you. Financial aid is easier to access than most people think. Although I know everyone’s experience with financial aid and scholarships is different, I can’t wait to graduate knowing that my degree is completely paid for and that I’m set up to succeed. Well, that’s all I’ve got. I’ll send it over to you, Alex.

Nice work Kira, it’s great to see students like you excelling at UNI. We know Northern Iowa is committed to making a college education accessible to every student. Thank you for sharing your experience with our viewers. We appreciate it.