Some students are starting to pay more attention to the high cost of college– and not just after they graduate. There are a growing number of 20-somethings struggling to pay back their college loans and experts say it’s because they didn’t do a good job saving for college, factoring rising tuition costs or researching opportunities like grants. Many students settled for private loans with high interest rates. “A lot of people are struggling to pay back their (student) loans,” Edie Irons, spokesperson for the California-based Project on Student Debt, an independent, nonprofit research and policy organization, told Buffalo Business First. “We definitely hear from graduates with loans who are at the end of their ropes.”
Recent research conducted by the US Department of Education found that one in ten borrowers who earned their four-year degree in 2008 had racked up $40,000 or more in student loans. That’s a three percent increase compared to 1996 graduates. The average senior graduated with $18,650 in loans in 2004. In 2008 that number reached $23,200. And those who went on to earn graduate degrees finished school in 2008 with an average debt of $80,000 or more.
The problem can be even worse for Black students, according to a report by Afro.com. Graduation rates are lower according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The six-year college graduation rate for Black students is 42 percent, while White students graduate 60 percent of the time. And not only are Black students finishing school less often, they’re racking up more debt, too. A recent report found that Black students held an average of $30,500 after earning a bachelor’s degree.
Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C., says the average Black family can’t support the cost of college tuition. “Probably half of the things students come to see me about have to do with money,” Malveaux told the AFRO. “Obviously, there has to be some outside resources for students to matriculate.”
Experts say estimating post-graduation debt payments while students are still in college will help them be prepared for what is coming. “The worst thing is for a student to come into the (student loan exit) interview and say, ‘I didn’t know I owe that much,’ ” said St. Bonaventure financial aid director Elisabeth Rankin, according to Buffalo Business First.
Tags: debt, Tuition, College tuition, Student financial aid, student loan, Education
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I know people that went to college and have massive debts that they can’t do anything about this is why I keep a job and try to balance out the school fees with my pay.