Provides Easier Access to Financial Aid & Student Debt Relief Resources
Baltimore, MD – (July 16, 2018) – As part of Governor Larry Hogan’s college
affordability and student debt relief announcement today
, Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) Secretary Dr. James D. Fielder
announced a new website feature to easily access information about
financial tools available to students and Marylanders with student debt.
Maryland SmartSave is an extensive resource of financial aid programs in
the form of grants, scholarships, and other awards to help pay for higher
education. The new SmartSave icon located at www.MHEC.Maryland.gov
will allow Marylanders to more efficiently
navigate all of the resources MHEC has to offer.
“SmartSave includes information at your fingertips on all available grants,
scholarships, and tuition waivers, as well as government financial aid and
loan assistance repayment programs,” said Governor Hogan. “We are offering
real solutions for higher education; our initiatives will not only help the
next generation of Marylanders, but will also provide much-needed relief to
the hundreds of thousands of Marylanders who are currently burdened by
student debt.”
The SmartSave page offers valuable information to assist students in
obtaining their higher education goals. Maryland is fortunate to have
numerous colleges and universities to choose from, and preparation is the
key to ensuring Marylanders’ dream of a college education can be realized.
“Governor Hogan’s education priorities set a new standard of student
achievement by allowing for affordable access to higher education,”
Secretary Fielder said. “It is through Governor Hogan’s leadership that we
can promote access, affordability, and innovation to fulfill our goal of
increasing student success with less debt.”
Marylanders can easily access the information by clicking on the SmartSave
icon at www.MHEC.Maryland.gov. After
clicking on the site, students can read a description of the resources and
gain easy access to information on all of the scholarships, grants, and
loan assistance repayment programs available through MHEC’s Office of
Student Financial Assistance (OSFA).
Each year, OSFA is responsible for awarding scholarships and grants to more
than 60,000 students with a total expenditure of more than $105 million.
Financial aid is money that helps pay for tuition and, in some cases, other
expenses. Merit-based financial aid is aid given to students who have
special talents, skills, or who have earned good grades. Need-based
financial aid is given to students who demonstrate that they have financial
need. Financial aid can come in the form of grants, work, student loans,
parent loans, scholarships and other awards.
Since taking office in 2015, the Hogan administration has invested more
than $7.1 billion in higher education.
