In the past 10 years, the tuition to attend a public, four-year college has increased over 50 percent. As the tuition increases, so does the amount of debt college students have. The average undergraduate student has $3,173 in credit card debt. Students are charging their school expenses to their credit cards, creating a huge amount of debt they will have to pay off once they are out of college and trying to make a living. The higher the grade level of the student, the more debt. The average college senior has $4,138 in debt, a 44 percent increase since 2004, and the highest this statistic has been since data for it has been collected. In addition, with the economic downturn, these statistics, which were collected for 2008, will still be on the rise for 2009. Lenders are declining private loans for college, leaving some people out of options for college funding (article). What should current high school students do to pay for college? According to this article, the high school graduating class of 2010, will be part of the largest entering college freshman class in U.S. history, a demographic blip that's leading to an admissions squeeze for some students. But the bigger squeeze is figuring out how to pay for the schools that accept them." So what happens when you get accepted into that "good" college of your dreams that you have worked your whole high school career for, but you cannot afford it? The economic downturn is causing student to apply to schools that are closer to home and cheaper, with an emphasis on in-state tuition. Many people's college funds have all but vanished with the stock market, and the average college endowment has dropped a quarter. Students that were counting on receiving financial aid may not be able to receive any, causing some people to loose their dream of going to any college at all. How will this affect the line between privilege and poverty? What will less people receiving a college education mean for the future of our economy?
The Obama administration has responded with a college affordability plan that includes phasing out bank-loan subsidies, transferring funding to small increases in grants for low-income students, expanding the federal student loan and Pell Grant programs and offering some assistance to students who enter public service. However, "even an infusion of government aid won't ease the pain much for most middle- to upper-income families, many of whom won't qualify for grants, need-based scholarships or significant education tax credits." This is where many New Trier students fall; they are in need of financial aid to afford those big price ticket private and out-of -state schools, bu they are not the worst off in the big, national need-based community, so they will not be receiving the aid they need.
3 comments:
I think it is sad that many people cannot attend their preffered college. And, what is even worse, is that many people may not be able to go to college because they either: cannot get financial aid or their parents have to use that money to pay their bills to keep their family going. New trier students, for the most part, should be very thankful and grateful that they have parents who can afford to send them to college.
This is a very sad truth of the economic situation. It's also very interesting that our class of 2010 will be one of the largest in history. Will this make it more competitive to get into a school, or will it be less competitive because less people can afford the tuition's. I also feel that this is a much more worthy recipient of relief than big corporations because if we want to improve the future, education must be taken advantage of. Good post.
This is the saddest said to the recession becomes education is the brightest hope for a better future. Many of the students that would not be able to go to college because of financial issues coming from lower socially economic families. With this trend it feels like there would is developing an endless cycle of boundaries on the future of many students in this the modern economic recession. Also with the estimated debt being laid on the hands on people who have not even been born yet as tax payers the recession will continue to compete with people's vigor to succeed in their futures.
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