SEMO SEES INCREASE IN STUDENT AID APPLICATIONS

The nation's colleges are coping with a crush of students applying for financial aid under a new federal loan program.

"We have more loans to process because of the unsubsidized loan program," said Karen Walker, interim director of financial aid services at Southeast Missouri State University.

"We have experienced the same thing that is going on with other institutions," she added.

Walker said the university processed $6.5 million worth of student loans, such as the Stafford loans, for the past academic year.

No figures were available Tuesday regarding student loans processed for the coming school year. "We have students that will be applying for financial aid all the way through the academic year," she said.

But she added, "We probably have done the majority of processing for the 1993-94 year."

Other schools are also reporting a brisk business in student loans.

"We are just trying to keep our heads above water," said Mary Dover, financial aid director at Johnson County Community College in the Kansas City area.

At Johnson County, the school estimates that twice as many students have applied for loans this fall than last.

The University of Kansas and the University of Missouri-Columbia said their requests were up by 30 percent to 50 percent.

"We are doing a lot higher volume," said Diane Del Buono, director of student financial aid at the University of Kansas. "More people are eligible for loans."

At the University of Kansas, students were borrowing larger amounts of money. As of Aug. 1, KU had authorized $21 million in loans for the coming year, compared with $14 million at that time last year.

Some students have returned to school because of the economy, while others have been in school for several years and have depleted their financial resources, said Chuck Carlsen, president of Johnson County Community College.

The new unsubsidized federal Stafford loan became available last October. It was approved as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Students making satisfactory progress in school and not in default on any other federal loan are eligible for the loan because it is not based on need.

With unsubsidized Stafford loans, students are required to pay interest on the loans while going to school. Under the subsidized program, the federal government pays the interest on the loans while students are in school and for six months after they graduate, withdraw or drop below half-time status, explained Walker.

She said a student in some cases could obtain both a subsidized loan, which is based on need, and an unsubsidized loan.

Students can borrow up to $2,625 for the first year of school; $3,500 for the second year. Students can borrow up to $5,500 a year if they have finished two years of study.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press.