Parent to Parent Email Newsletter
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Greetings from Ouachita!
February is the time when the groundhog sees his shadow-or-not and your family moves closer to a final decision about where your son or daughter will spend the next four years. The college decision won't receive as much media coverage as Punxsutawney Phil, but I know it is important to your family. It is also important to those of us at Ouachita.
This is a busy month for our financial aid staff as they counsel a large number of applicants about financial aid options. Chris Kear, Ouachita's director of student financial services, provides a few tips this month for students and parents. If you have questions about this process, or you need help in developing additional funding sources for the education of your daughter or son, you may wish to contact Mr. Kear at kearc@obu.edu.
Sometimes parents ask why they ought to send their children to Ouachita. The best answers to that question are provided by the parents of our students:
- "Releasing a child to become an adult is hard, but there is great comfort in knowing that we have released her to a place that is blessed by the Lord."
- "After dealing with your staff, I am understanding more and more why my son chose Ouachita and why he values the people that make it such a wonderful place."
- "We've decided that Ouachita is one of the best investments we've ever made in the future of our children.
Six months and a few days remain before you'll be depositing your son or daughter on our doorstep.
Rex M. Horne, Jr.
President
Ouachita Baptist University
Getting Ready: February
Believe it or not, all of us in Student Financial Services and the Admissions Counseling Office have been working on the entering class of 2008 for over half a year. As a result, we feel like we are already hitting the home stretch for 2008. Already this year the number of applicants and admitted students is significantly higher at this point than ever before.
Outside of securing Ouachita funded aid, you and your student should be looking at every possible source for additional funding: organizations, company, church, community groups and other associations. This includes the U.S. Department of Education. The DOE provides the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This application will determine your student's eligibility for student loans, work study, and grants. Your family should submit this application before June 1, 2008. Eligible students who do so can be assured that we will have their federal funding in place by registration day, August 26, 2008. The FAFSA application can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
One other avenue for funding your education that is worth pursuing is private scholarship searches. Private scholarship searches require patience and persistence on the part of the family (along with getting an early start). These searches are free of charge. Please do not pursue scholarship searches which require a fee for processing your application information! Some searches you might try are www.fastweb.com, www.fundmyfuture.info, and www.scholarshipexperts.com. These searches are free of charge. Please do not pursue scholarship searches which require a fee for processing your application information!
Please call us at 870-245-5570 with any financial aid questions and be sure to explore Ouachita's financial aid site, www.obu.edu/finaid, for other resources. Our staff will be more than happy to help with questions or concerns your family might have.
Chris Kear
Director of Student Financial Services
Ouachita Baptist University
Email us your questions
- Financial Aid and Student Accounts - Student Financial Services (finaid@obu.edu)
- Pre-registration Information - Marsha Whalen (whalenm@obu.edu)
- AP, CLEP - Bill McCrary (mccraryb@obu.edu)
- Transcripts and Immunizations - Judy Jones (jonesj@obu.edu)
- Housing information - Margaret Frazier (frazierm@obu.edu)
- General Questions - Admissions Office (admissions@obu.edu)