Got Tuition--Student Conference

Shyla Ridley, GA

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Students turn to food pantry, welfare, selling blood

Daily Kos has a really great article called "Slow death by strangulation, part 13" that is chronicling some of the college affordability horror stories that are floating around the internet and in local news sources. At the end of the article, you can find links to the rest of this series on college affordability. Take a minute to check out the comments after you're done reading the article, lots of people are posting their own stories there. You can read the complete article here.

Todd R introduces himself

My name is Todd R and I am a recent graduate of Emporia State University in Kansas. I received my degree in Elementary Education. Entering the teaching profession, I knew the pay would not allow me to live in a big house, drive fancy cars, or have fine dining experiences every night.

What I did expect was to be able to make enough money to support my family. A first year teacher in Kansas will make approximately $27,000 on average. That is not the best average but it looks very small once you start adding in all of my college loans. After graduating in May 2008, I have accumulated over $13,000 in debt. I would be paying back nearly $400 a month on college loans alone. Then I would need money to afford a healthy life and buy food, get gas to drive to school, my electric bill, water bill, and of course a roof over my head.

Since I have so much debt currently, I have decided to continue my schooling. I will be working as a graduate assistant and getting a tuition break. This also allows me to slowly repay my loans, which I would not have been able to afford otherwise.
My newest concern with the skyrocketing cost of college tuition is if I will be able to afford putting my daughter through college. It will be another 18 years before that happens but it scares me, knowing that I may not be able to send her to college due to the high cost of schooling. As an educator it makes sense that college should be made accessible to any student who would like to pursue higher education. To me, it seems like a no brainier that something has to be done about the unreasonably rising cost of a college degree.

I want people to be able to enter the teaching field and other noble professions without having to make a decision about whether they need to put food on the table or pay off college loans. I am very concerned about the future of higher education. What are our elected officials going to do to help out with this problem?

Please, make your voice heard and do not allow your elected officials to pass this off as just another issue. This is an issue that has a major impact on everybody.

Josh Anderson, IN

Josh Anderson of Indiana recently spoke with us about the difficulty of paying back the debt from a private university education.



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An introduction from Rose Marye P.

Hello everyone.

Let me start with some quick background information about myself. I am a non-traditional student which basically means that since I am 26 years old I have to rely on myself to pay for my schooling, no help from Mom and Dad. I am currently a freshman attending Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky and for the most part I truly love going to school and I do not regret the decision to return, at least not until I see my loan bills and the realization that after just 1 semester and right at the beginning of a new semester I have already racked up $13,000 in loan debt. No, I am afraid that is not a typo, that is in fact a one, a three, and three zeroes with no decimal in sight.

We are taught from the time we are young children that if we want to get ahead in this world we need to attend college. Here I am, attending school to be a high school social studies teacher, and the reason I through this little bit in is to point out that I truly do understand the value of a good education. But keeping in mind that education is supposed to be a top priority it boggles the mind to think of the sacrifices we make to go back to school. In order to keep up my school schedule I had to drop down to part-time employment. I can no longer afford to live on my own and therefore had to resort to moving in with my financially strapped parents.

At already thirteen thousand in debt after just one year of school it boggles the mind to think of where that debt will be by May 2011 when I am supposed to graduate. Then I will be expected to start saving money towards college for my children that I may one day have, but how can I do that if I am busy paying of 40 to 50 thousand dollars of debt for my schooling?

This is a big, vicious cycle that really should end. Education, knowledge is power. It is not something that we should have to sacrifice whenever the pennies get tight. But the first thing that goes for us college students struggling day-to-day is our education. Sure it starts of slow at first, a class here, a class there, but eventually you find yourself contemplating dropping out entirely to get a full time job in order to pay your bills. We need help.

Can finding a good deal hurt your credit?

The New York Times has an interesting article about student loan borrowers. Whenever you apply for a loan, or a company runs a credit check on you for any reason, your credit score takes a small ding. When shopping for most types of loans, such as a mortgage or car loan, you only get penalized once for any credit checks that happen within the same time period. However, this doesn't apply to student loans, and if your credit score goes down, your interest rates can go up. This means that shopping around for the best rate on your private student loans can actually end up causing you to have to pay back more on your loans. You can read the whole article here.

Jasmine Williams, TN

Jasmine Williams of Tennessee takes a minute to talk to 'got tuition?'.

Our newest blogger is Rob B.

My name is Rob B. I am 29 years old and I have $27,000 in student loan debt. My wife and I have two children; between us we will be paying for, at least in part, five degrees. Yeah, college affordability is a big concern of mine.

We live in Chicago, Illinois; we moved here to come back to the Midwest and be near family. Three years ago, I decided to go back to school to pursue a career in education. I just earned a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education and History from Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). I had hoped that it would only take me two years to do the work necessary to gain certification, but I felt it was best to pursue that double major. In this way I would be qualified to teach several subjects; given the job market, it seems another year was a wise investment.

NEIU is the most affordable state institution in Illinois, yet the total bill for the average class has been just over $500 for me. I had to take 94 credit hours, which cost about $16,000. Throw in a few thousand dollars in textbooks and I owe a lot of money.

I was able to get one scholarship out of the dozen or so that I applied for; it bought me a laptop and some school supplies. Almost all scholarships asked for tax information; only one scholarship took cost of living into account. My wife’s and my combined income leaves us comfortable as long as we are frugal, but that meant I was unable to get most scholarships. This also precluded me from getting a Pell grant, which, even at its current level, would have taken care of almost three quarters of my school expenses.

Many students are able to get help from their parents. My parents paid for a degree work in film, but this time was different. The choice to move to education is a career change for me. It didn’t seem fair to ask for more from my family, especially since my dad is helping to pay for the three other children. The only answer for me was federal loans.

I kept working at the restaurant, sometimes overtime, in order to pay my living expenses, but it was a huge struggle to get anything resembling a regular sleep schedule, even before the family additions. I had to stop working during my student teaching, so my wife and I dug into our modest savings in order to take care of our family’s current needs. We were originally going to purchase a home, as we’ve been renting for all of our adult lives, but we’ve had to put that off in order to afford for me to go back to school.

In four months, I’ll have to start repaying my loans. In order to pay them back in 10 years, we’ll have to make $310 payments; we will pay over $38,000 for my education. We have started accounts for each of our son’s college savings, but I’m afraid it will be pretty difficult to make the necessary installments to avoid going into debt for their education.

I anticipate earning about $40,000 a year if I am lucky enough to find a job in the city of Chicago or in the surrounding area. However, I am also looking in the central part of Illinois, where my earnings expectations are much lower. A few of the districts that I am looking at only pay first year teachers $27,000. I’ll be lucky to make the payments on my own debt let alone save for the education of my children.

Of course, I worry about these things, but right now I even more worried about finding a teaching job in the first place. I graduated with a great GPA, did lots of volunteer work, and have nice recommendations, but the job market is so tight right now! What really has me worried is what’s going to happen to if I have to start making payments on my loan as a substitute teacher, where at best, I can expect to earn $125 a day. In order to stay afloat financially I’m going to have to continue to work at the restaurant on weekends and maybe some weeknights, making it all the harder to actually find my first teaching position. I’m starting to regret taking those loans.

Find out how your state ranks for student debt

There was a really great article in the News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, IN) last Friday that tells us how the state ranks ninth-highest in debt in the nation (read the complete article here).

Although the News-Sentinel doesn't link directly to the study in question, and they have incorrect release dates listed, we here at 'got tuition?' managed to track it down for you. While the study only incorporates data up to 2006, they have a great interactive map where you can see average debt by state and even individual colleges. See how your school and state measure up here.

Jason Whiting, SD

Jason Whiting of South Dakota recently took the time to speak with us here at 'got tuition?'. On a single salary, caring for his children, and with $750 a month worth of loan payments, he wants to know what the government will do to help him. Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.

In depth look at the Higher Education Act

Inside Higher Ed has a rather in depth look at the Higher Education Act. They explain some of the ways that legislatures, especially at the state level, have tried to bypass some of the provisions that are supposed to make higher education more affordable. Read the complete article here.

Boston Herald talks about college affordability

The Boston Herald has a great article up about some of the things congress has been working on to try and make college more affordable.

WASHINGTON - Thirteen thousand dollars.

That’s the average cost of a year of college for in-state students. Make it more than $32,000 for those attending private schools.

But thanks to complicated financial aid formulas, what undergraduates really pay for their degree is a much more complex equation. Now Congress is trying to take the mystery out of the forever-rising costs of higher education by mandating that colleges provide students and their parents more information about how much the average student pays for school, what kind of tuition help they might be able to secure and which universities offer the best bang for the buck. Congress is also calling for an annual “blacklist” of schools with the steepest cost increases.

You can read the complete article here.

Kelly Bowers, SC

Kelly Bowers of South Carolina shares her story with 'got tuition?'. Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.

Introducing Aaron M

Hello, my name is Aaron and I moved to Wyoming two years ago to attend the University of Wyoming in Laramie. I am a senior in elementary education with an area of concentration in early childhood education. Originally, I was a finance and political science major and was attending college in Illinois when I started worrying about the amount of student loans I had to borrow to not only pay for textbooks and tuition, but also just to live on or near campus and pay typical bills. I have worked at least two jobs my entire college career and still have about $20,000 in student loan debt.

Transferring to the University of Wyoming was a positive move in regards to lowering tuition costs because this school’s out-of-state costs were lower than most in-state tuition costs in Illinois! Also, Wyoming recently jumped into the top ten for starting teacher salaries which led me to believe I could go ahead and follow my interests in the teaching profession and still find ways to pay off my student debt upon graduation. Unfortunately, we are losing potential educators to the rising costs of tuition and basic need for additional student loans. Who can take a starting salary of $32,000 (if you are lucky) and attempt to begin a family with $45,000 in student debt??

Aaron M

Say hello to Shawn B

We've found some bloggers to help us out here at 'got tuition?' and we'd like to introduce them to all of you. First up is Shawn B.

Hello. I am currently a student from Nebraska attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha working on my Masters Degree in Education full time. By the time I graduate next spring I will have about $60,000 in student loan debt, and I have only attended relatively cheap colleges. My parents, a farmer and a factory worker, can not afford to help me much with college bills. On top of that, many of the colleges I have attended have been in rural areas and jobs are scarce. I know that when I graduate, I will be able to get a steady job, but the amount of my loan payments worries me. If I cannot get onto a graduated or extended payment plan, I may not be able to make it. And if I can't make it, what of the other students who have even more debt? Without a good education, possibilities are very limited for anyone.

Marilda Smith from Tennessee talks to 'got tuition?'

Marilda Smith of Tennessee took a moment to share some of her higher education affordability concerns with us. After dropping out of college (one class short of graduating) to take care of her children, Marilda now realizes that she can't afford to finish her degree. Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.

Tuition further strains families coping with food, gas costs

The El Paso Times had a great article in yesterday's edition. Since 2003, tuition and fees at University of Texas, El Paso have risen by more than 60 percent! There are tons of great quotes from local politicians, some personal stories, and lots of statistics too. One of the folks they talked to is actually considering becoming a military reservist just to help pay for her tuition. You can read the complete article here.

Julie Paulson, WI

Julie Paulson of Wisconsin shares her story with 'got tuition?'. Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.

Teneile's story

Teneile recently wrote to 'got tuition?' to share her story with us.

My name is Teneile. I recently graduated from college. During my last two years of school, I had to use other means to pay for college other than federal grants and loans. ( private student loans). I thought it was a blessing since I didn't know how I was going to complete my education. Well fast forward to present day( 7 months after graduating). I was contacted by my private loan lender 3 month after graduation and was told my payments would be $600.27 a month. I contacted them and was told that since my loans were not yet in repayment status that I would have to wait till they( loans) were. I waited and on June 1 contacted them (Sallie Mae). I explain to the nice lady that I could not afford to make 600.00 payments each month. She told me to wait till the day after my payment was due and call back and we could look at other options. I called back.... Someone answered the phone and told me there was nothing they could do for me. Once I told him I could not make the high payments, he informed me my only choice was to get a deferment ( which would cost an additional $150.00 every 6 months to delay repaying. I informed them I wanted to start paying it back now but can we reduce it. Long story short. Since that conversation I have attempted to consolidate my private loans ( all from Sallie Mae but the interest rates vary and so do the repayment. I can't consolidate because I now have a delinquent loan from them and don't know what to do. I think that Sallie Mae is being unreasonable in the amount and will not give me a chance.

Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.

Sue Kohorn of Wyoming talks to got tuition

Sue Kohorn took a few minutes to tell us what sacrifices she has had to make due to college debt, and gave us some ideas for government programs that could help. If you would like to share your story with got tuition, please send your stories, videos and pictures to gottuition08@gmail.com.

Caution--Student Loan Problems Ahead

There's growing evidence that some student lenders were as overly enthusiastic as some mortgage lenders in the recent past. A revealing blog post by an employee of a company that makes private educational loans documents how lenders' dependence on Internet applications and computerized processing might have made it too easy for students to borrow too much.

Christopher Penn of the Student Loan Network says he dissuaded a potential commission-paying client from taking out $50,000 in student loans because Penn realized what he believes predictive software programs couldn't—that the student was probably paying too much for courses that were unlikely to increase his earning power enough to cover the $500-a-month loan payments.

Similar concerns about the industry were voiced last month by federal fraud investigators in Seattle. They charged that a ring of women who allegedly borrowed nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in fraudulent student loans took advantage of student lenders who were overeager and overly reliant on technology.

The credit crunch has forced many lenders to pull back and refuse loans to students they believe to be bad risks. It will take years to see if lenders have modified their software and lending rules too much, enough, or too little.

--Kim Clark, U.S. News Staff writer

Aging parents scramble to save

There was a great article recently in Investment News about the difficulty of saving for retirement while trying to pay for a child's college. Some of the best statistics in the article are:

-Average public college tuition has risen by 844% since 1977
-Average private college tuition has risen by 778% since 1977
-Average income has only risen 304% in the same time period

Read the complete article here.

Shannon Nicholson of Idaho talks about her sacrifices

Shannon Nicholson of Idaho found a few minutes to tell got tuition about some of the sacrifices she has had to make to pay off her college debt, including waiting for more children. If you would like to share your story with got tuition, please send your stories, videos and pictures to gottuition08@gmail.com.

Sherri Wood of Idaho shares her thoughts with got tuition

Sherri wood of Idaho recently shared her thought about college affordability with got tuition. If you would like to share your story, please e-mail your thoughts, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.

New student loan guidelines take effect

We found a quick Associated Press article that goes through some of the changes that have recently taken effect within the federal student aid program. You can read the full article here.

Barbara Cogoli of Connecticut talks to 'got tuition?'

Barbara was kind enough to tell us her college debt story, and how her debt is affecting her childrens' chance to go to college.

Dual degree woes

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling but also concerned to hear there are so many of us out there. I recently graduated from Penn State University, PA with a dual degree. I have two undergraduate degrees, one is in Elementary Education and the other is in Rehabilitation Services. I was recently hired as an elementary school teacher, making $34,000, however my loans have accumulated to over $66,000. I see my self sinking, instead of getting ahead.

I am currently 25 years old and working as a full time teacher and I also carry a second job at least 3-4 days a week, to make ends meet on my loan payment. I can not even look at the housing market or rental property for that matter when my loan payments a month are more then some pay on a house mortgage. Yes, I chose to go to school for 5 and a half years but at the same time I was hoping it would pay off, and every one tells me to wait it out and things will get better, but how?

I am interested in starting a family and moving out of my parents place but under the conditions I don't see it happening in the near future. I enjoy working with the students but I'm not sure how long my wallet can handle it. When looking into graduate courses (which are required to keep certification) I cringe due to the amount of cost that needs to be payed out again. Like most, I have both standard government loans and private loans that were needed to pay for housing, which have both been consolidated since I graduated in 2006.

I want to thank you for having an open ear and listening to the current struggle most of us are going through. Any tips on how to lower payments would be greatly appreciated. May the government make some drastic changes in the near future, not only for current students but those who choose to attend college in the future.

-Sara, PA
Teacher and recent graduate

Bruce Schulz of Idaho talks to got tuition

Bruce Schulz of Idaho was kind enough to share his story with got tuition.

Governor Easley honored with a 'got tuition?' t-shirt

Gov. Easley of North Carolina was recently honored by the National Education Association as Educator of the year. His strong stance on college affordability was rewarded with one of our t-shirts, soon to be available for purchase at www.gottuition.org!

Career change teachers struggle

My name is Phyllis. I went back to school to become a Spanish teacher in upstate New York at age 39, divorced with 3 sons ages 4, 7, and 10. My mother encouraged me to become a teacher with my background and experience in foreign languages and traveling. I speak Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish and French. I lived abroad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Florence, Italy and Ankara, Turkey for a total of 4 years, and I have another undergraduate degree and 7 years of NYC working experience in international marketing. Experience is great, but teachers are not rewarded financially for it. I finally became fully certified as a teacher at age 47.

I have now been teaching or 6 years. I love teaching! I believe that I truly enrich my students lives and they love my stories... but the debt makes it hard. To go back to school the first 3 years to get my second undergraduate degree in Spanish/Education cost me $80,000. I liquidated stock and bonds, IRA's and even a retirement savings account for $30,000, and I borrowed from Sallie Mae. I had to go onto the Food Stamps program, and get free health care for my children to survive. My graduate degree cost me another $10,000 which I borrowed also. My Sallie Mae bill is $34,000, but I also have a mortgage and car loans. The financial stress was probably worse than the academic stress of going back to school. I would frequently get up at 4:00am to find a quiet time and place to study and get my work done. I am behind on my student loan payments as others from your article. I do not feel that I will be able to pay back my loan and rebuild my retirement savings account. I work during the summers teaching summer school, or waitressing. But I can now say at age 47 it is getting harder to keep up.

Last year, my youngest son hit rock bottom in school. He was going into 7th grade, and was testing out at 1-2nd grade levels in reading and writing. I was desperate and had an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) done on him. It turns out that he is double-deficit dyslexic. The school assured me that their programs would work for him, but could provide no programs with scientifically proven methods that work for dyslexics. My son applied to a school that specializes in his learning disability. This is costing me another $25,000 in student loans for him, but thankfully for the first time in his life he is succeeding.

I don't mind buying clothing from a thrift shop, getting by without a cell phone ... My oldest son is paying his own way for college by working during the summer and at school. He is learning now to keep his debt at a minimum. My middle son also works. He started at age 7 acting for the Glimmerglass Opera. He also works at a coffee shop, and buses table to pay his own way. I provide basic essentials for my children. Luxuries are out of the question, including cable television. Penny pinching is a way of life. I can surely understand why students will think twice about going to school to become a teacher, and for non-traditional students to go back to school, it is a no-brainer, "no way!" It simply will not pay back financially.

Think of all of the people with fantastic experience that the school systems could have teaching, but they don't because the requirements to teach are simply too high in both time and price.

Sincerely,
Phyllis, a teacher

Alabama uses bipartisan cooperation to create tax deductions for college savings

There is a great article in the Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama) that talks about recently enacted legislation that will help parents save for college. This bipartisan effort is creating tax deductions for deposits into college savings accounts. This is just another example of how cooperation across the aisle can benefit all of us. Read the complete article here.

Recent Graduates unable to get ahead

My daughter is very talented and received scholarships for her artistic talents which only covered a small portion of the costs she experienced at School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Parson's School of Design. Her parents earned too much money for her to qualify for most other scholarships and too little to be able to afford to pay her college expenses. Besides receiving Federal Student Loans, she applied for private student loans. She has a good job after graduation, but she has student loans exceeding $150,000. She is barely making ends meet after paying "interest only" student loan payments with her beginning salary as a textile designer at Nordstrom's Corporate office in Seattle.

Something has to be done. Our country is discouraging our youth to "reach for the stars" with their career goals by not giving our students special considerations with student loans. I co-signed for my daughter's loans and both she and I are damaging our credit, because of the huge account balances. I'm approaching retirement and don't need this financial burden. My daughter can't even apply to buy her first home or condo with this financial burden.

Please create laws, which encourage students to continue with their education, but also to minimize the financial burden of debt after graduation (lower interest loans, government subsidies toward education of student choice, laws to help students using private student loans, laws that help students and parents with their credit in regard to student loans [federal & private] ...etc.)

--Janis Knapp
Parent