Well, It Never Hurts To Ask
Online, they are called cyberbeggars, and Balmes Pavlov joined their ranks last year to help pay for college. Inspired by a student who asked for donations through newspaper ads, he took the idea to the Internet and set up a Web page with a link to PayPal. "I have created this website to collect donations from people as a way to help fund my college education," it reads. "This is not a joke or a scam." After gently advertising to friends and family and in online message boards, the Fordham University freshman collected a total of $83.98.
The largess has done little to alleviate Pavlov's financial burden, which is $42,000 a year at Fordham. Pavlov, who is in the College of Business Administration, uses a combination of tactics to make up the rest of the cost. He took out loans, received grants and scholarships, was assigned a work-study job in the school's information-technology department, and fixes friends' computers on the side. He will be vying for a resident adviser position-which carries with it free room and board.
Pavlov is the first of his immigrant family from the Dominican Republic to pursue a bachelor's degree, and staying close to his home in the Bronx was a high priority. He decided to move into the dorms for a richer campus experience, but moving out of the family home was a tough financial decision. "Obviously, you want to be smart about what you spend and where your money goes," he says. "But it shouldn't stop you from doing something that you really want to do."
This story appears in the April 16, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.