Higher education translates to rising debt for students
by
Anthony Pura
Story Created:
Dec 21, 2010 at 7:26 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Dec 21, 2010 at 7:26 PM CDT
Can you put a price on higher education? For many, that price tag is proving to be too much. More and more students are defaulting on their student loans around the country - a rate that's comparable to defaults on home mortgages.
College tuition is rising twice as fast as inflation and in a struggling economy some lawmakers are saying could be the next US debt crisis.
So if you have a high school senior in your home, now is about that time he or she should start thinking about college - more importantly, the cost of it all.
We've heard of the horror stories of people coming out of college with debt. How do incoming students feel about putting themselves in debt?
The word debt is a scary word to these kids.
And many are doing their best to stay away from it, but let's be honest, college isn't cheap. And the bottom line is, they need to be careful.
Bradie Schulz is a senior ready to graduate Hastings High, hoping to become an incoming freshman at Beloit College.
"It's a private college, costs about $40,000 a year," said Schulz.
If you're a parent that could be a scary dollar amount coming. Bradie wants to become an anthropologist and has a rough idea of how to finance her dream.
"They have a scholarship for it., pays half tuition. And then try to get a lot of regional scholarships and then student aid and then if I have to...a loan," Schulz said.
The dreaded student loan.
Nationally, the average college senior in 2009 graduated with roughly $24,000 of it. That is up 6 percent from the previous class.
Nebraska graduates come out a little lower with $22,000 of college loan debt. And, of course, the job market isn't the best.
Unemployment among those graduates jumped form 5.8 percent to 8.7.
Worst case scenarios, Bradie is well aware of.
"You always hear about debt and people have to mortgage their house to pay it later," said Schulz.
Scott Engberg is a counselor at Hastings Senior High. He says there is an allure by the more prestigious, big name – and often times – more expensive universities, thinking there will be a bigger paycheck at the end of debt tunnel.
But that's not always the case and depends mostly on the field your student is going into.
"They've got a tremendous architectural program down at UNL and that degree is going to be worth a fair amount of money, I think, but if you're looking at education and you're someone going to Wayne State for example or UNL or Hastings College, I would say that you're kind of on even footing," said Engberg.
Engberg said there are more students choosing to go to a two year college to finish up their General Education courses before transferring to a four year college.
Now good luck to Bradie, she'll hear back from Beloit soon.
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