Add as a preferred source on Google

Student Loans

  • By Deborah P. Moore
  • 07/01/13

Classes may be done for the summer, but many college students are wondering where they will get the money to return to school in the fall. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1993 and 2011 the average student loan debt for Americans with a bachelor’s degree jumped by more than 82 percent, to $27,547. To add insult to injury, on July 1, the interest rate on Stafford loans doubled to 6.8 percent after Congress failed to pass legislation preventing the automatic rate hike. And they could stay doubled unless Congress lives up to its promise of restoring lower rates after it returns from the Fourth of July holidays. For many students this will mean working more hours or borrowing more money from their parents in order to return to school in the fall.

To look at it another way, a report in USA Today found 265 colleges and universities across 40 states where the loan default rate is already higher than the graduation rate.

One interesting solution to the tuition crisis is Oregon’s “Pay It Forward, Pay It Back” pilot project. The concept calls for students to attend public universities tuition-free and loan-free. In exchange, students would have 3 percent (1.5 percent for students who graduate from a two-year college) deducted from their post-graduation paychecks for about a quarter-century. This money would go into a fund to pay for future students. The bill, which passed unanimously on the same day that federal student loan rates doubled, is expected to be signed this month by Gov. John Kitzhaber and directs the state’s Higher Education Coordination Commission to develop a Pay It Forward pilot project for consideration by the 2015 Legislature. Initial start-up costs are an estimated $9 billion, since the first group of students to attend tuition-free are years away from their first real jobs.

There is always hope, but it may take a miracle for Congress to agree upon a plan that will allow student loan rates to drop. Hopefully Oregon’s Pay It Forward plan will provide a solution to the cost of college crisis for students and their families!

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management July 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • FAU Starts Construction on Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building

    Florida Atlantic University recently began construction on a new academic building for its campus in Boca Raton, Fla., according to university news. The Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building will stand two stories, measure in at 22,000 square feet, and play home to the university’s Holocaust education and Jewish studies programs.

  • Texas District Finishes Construction on New Middle School, Admin Building

    The Westwood Independent School District recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Westwood Middle School and Administration Building in Palestine, Texas, according to a news release. The campus covers 106,000 square feet and has the capacity for 650 students in grades 6–8, and it will also play home to the district’s staff and administration.

  • New eBook Shares Guidelines on Building CTE Centers

    Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and resources provider iCEV recently announced the publication of a new eBook sharing guidance and insights on building new CTE facilities, according to a news release.

  • DLR Group Appoints New K–12 Education Practice Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it has named its new global K–12 Education leader, Senior Principal Carmen Wyckoff, AIA, LEED AP, according to a news release. Her teams have members in all 36 of the firm’s offices in the U.S., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Europe, and Asia.

Digital Edition