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

  • New Kent State Academic Building Earns LEED Silver Certification

    Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, recently announced that its newest academic building, Crawford Hall, has earned a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The facility was recognized for its innovative design, water conservation technologies, energy-efficient systems, and sustainable construction materials, among other features.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Fellowes Launches New 3D Modular, Product Configurators

    Contract interiors and architectural solutions provider Fellowes recently announced the launch of new 3D modular and product configurators for several of its product lines, according to a news release. The new products offer SIF file integration and pricing for the Volo, Markerboards, Sena, and Rising product lines in connection with 3D Cloud, which provides 3D product visualization and 3D digital asset management.

  • StarRez Releases 2025 State of Student Housing Report

    Student housing software solutions provider StarRez recently released its second State of the Student Housing Industry Report, according to a news release. The report is based on the results of survey data from more than 400 higher education institutions around the world, both StarRez clients and not.