Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Time is running out for students heading to college next month, though many may still not know how much money they'll receive in financial aid. Grants from the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) can't be calculated until the state's budget is in place.
Without the anticipated TAP aid, students, parents, and schools scrambling to come up with a plan-b, because tuition bills still need to be paid soon.
It's freshman orientation at SUNY Oswego, a time for kids to learn just what to expect in August.
"This whole orientation thing has gotten me very excited about it," said Luke Kwiatkowski.
It's also a chance for parents to iron out their part of the deal: paying for school.
"You don't know what to pay. Are you paying, then getting reimbursed? Where find the money; do you borrow it?" said Sue Kwiatkowski, Luke's mom.
Orientation is full of sessions on a variety of topics, but in between them, most parents are stopping at Financial Aid and the top concern is TAP.
"We have no idea how much we got," Sue said.
Amy Lo Prete also doesn't know how much help she'll receive from TAP.
"She still owes a certain amount of money, $1700 I think, we have to figure out where that money is coming from," Amy's mother, Peggy Lo Prete, said.
New York won't calculate TAP until there is a budget. At Oswego, 60 percent of the students receive TAP, a total of $8 million.
"Families are more and more nervous about what'll happen," said SUNY Oswego Director of Financial Aid Mark Humbert.
The university used the TAP formula with last year's funding amount and came up with an estimate. The issue becomes that if there's a change in the state budget, it could change the TAP awards. That situation would create a burden for families who may suddenly owe more money when school starts.
Humbert says SUNY Oswego is trying to give out the best information it can, but the school, like the parents, is at the mercy of the state." In this environment, families are already struggling and this certainly isn't helping," he said.
There is a proposal to cut TAP by $75 per student, but, again, no decision has been made. Syracuse University's financial aid department says they are using estimates, too, and if the award is reduced, they will replace that money with grant money.
