Throughout my four plus years in college I have paid most of my tuition independently as my parents are divorced and my mother cannot afford to help me with college tuition and my father believes that I should be independent about earning and spending money. I did well in high school and paid through my first three years entirely by scholarships and money earned through my jobs. In fact I have had a job all throughout college in order to pay my way in school not to mention other living expenses. Even though I saved money being a commuter student, I worked at least one job but usually two or even three at a time in order to help pay for my college tuition. I took out my first college loan about a year ago for $5,000 to help pay for my last year as an undergrad. I took out an additional $10,000 loan for the current school year to help pay for my graduate degree.
Though my college debt will not be as high as many new teachers it will still put a financial strain on my life as I plan to move out on my own, and live on a new teacher salary. It has been increasingly harder for new teachers to pay off college loans as the years have past. The starting teacher salary used to be on average $1,500 short of paying off a college education and now it is $15,000 short! As college students we need to be activists for our rights because if we are not then who will be for us? College tuition does not put a strain on just those who are going to be teachers as 400,000 high school students do not attend college each year just based on the fact that they cannot afford it even if they are qualified enough to continue schooling.
As an education major and a college student I plan to blog for the next year in order to help get the word out about college affordability. I hope to bring you more information about what is going on in the country and in Ohio regarding college tuition fees and loan information. This especially important during the upcoming elections to keep students informed on candidates platforms on college education and college tuition costs so that we can elect politicians who care about us and our needs!
In addition I would like to take a second to make a plug for Got Tuition? Day of Action events that are going on on campuses nationwide. These events are easy to put on with the help of NEA Got Tuition? If you are interested in having an event on your campus contact us at gottuition08@gmail.com. There are three upcoming Got Tuition? events that Ohio will be involved in during a week in October. I plan to blog about these events so that you all can hear about how they go!
Monday, October 13 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio
Wednesday, October 15 at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio
Thursday, October 16 at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio
If you are interested in more information on these specific events please contact me at dsherrit@kent.edu. I am excited to be working with Got Tuition? this year and I know that together we will be able to make a difference in the future of college students nationwide!
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