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Director Spends His Time Helping Families Save Money

Of all the anxiety-inducing jitters around preparing a child for college, one of the most unsettling for any family is finances. “Is there monetary assistance for my student?” “Is the process as cumbersome and difficult to navigate as some people say it is?”

It’s Jordan Grant’s job to allay those fears.

Raised in bucolic Brookings, Oregon, the director of Student Financial Services (SFS) at Seattle Pacific University remembers how it was to be college-bound and to feel the squeeze of tight finances. College was out of the question for him, too, without financial aid. Plus, he felt limited to an in-state public institution (University of Oregon), because he knew of no other options for the more expensive private or out-of-state schools he might have preferred. Now he knows it would have helped to speak with a financial aid counselor about alternatives. And that's what SFS does at Seattle Pacific.

“We’re here to come alongside students and their families and walk with them through the forms, the deadlines, and the requirements so that students receive the best package possible,” says Grant, the grandson of a Southern Baptist minister. “We understand that family finances can change, and that medical and other issues can impact students. Seattle Pacific is a grace-filled community, and we’re here to help.”

There are 21 full-time staff members in SFS, and six to 10 work-study students. Included are five "frontline" experts, five counselors, and seven loans, grants, and scholarships representatives.

Grant knows better than most the validity of college money rumors. “A big myth out there right now is that the slumping economy and the national credit crunch will limit the ability of students to access student educational loans. Not true. There are more than 2,000 federal loans available. SFS can help a student find some assistance.” In 2008–09, SPU has close to $60 million in aid to dispense.

That's welcome news to the nine in 10 SPU students who receive some form of financial aid. Grant says that an important part of their education is assuming more responsibility for their finances. His goal: Teach them how to negotiate the details of financial aid and be confident that college is financially doable.

For more insights into the services Jordan Grant and his staff provide, visit the SFS website.

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