#higherednotdebt

[ohiodebtwarriors]

When I was in first grade I wrote an autobiography as a class assignment. In that autobiography I said I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up.  Here I am at 30 years old and I am finally getting close to fulfilling that dream.  In first grade I didn't realize that having that kind of dream might not be attainable. I grew up in a family that always encouraged me to do well in school, go to college, and pursue my dreams. As I grew up it became clear to me that I wanted to be the kind of lawyer that would represent people that have traditionally been underrepresented. I wanted to work in civil rights, represent children, and to be a part of the change I believe our society needs.  

Although my family was a constant source of encouragement it quickly became clear that they wouldn't be able to help with the costs. My family made enough money to get by and make sure we had everything we needed, but when it was time for me to go to college there were still two kids at home. Those two kids, my little brother and sister, both had disabilities that had to be a priority over higher education. I made the decision to go to community college first. I made that choice not because it was the best education I could get, but because it was affordable. When my time at community college was coming to an end I knew I needed to figure something out to pay university tuition and fees. The thought of borrowing scared me, so I decided to join the US Army to earn the GI Bill and spent four years in the US Army as a paralegal.  Upon leaving the US Army I went back to school and got my BA and MA, but my GI Bill benefits were almost up and I still hadn't made it to law school. I decided that I would have to bite the bullet and utilize available student loans. Although I got a scholarship to cover part of my tuition, I will leave law school with over $120,000 in student loans.  

I have one year of law school left and it is time for me to start thinking about my career. As I said earlier, the reason I came to law school was to help traditionally underrepresented people.  The problem is that the kinds of jobs that help traditionally underrepresented people don't have the ability to pay the kinds of salaries that big firms can pay.  I am now at this weird place in life where I have to decide if it is even possible for me to take a job that will pay a fraction of what I would make at a firm.  Those loans have to be paid back.  While I am grateful that I am able to be in law school working toward my dreams, the amount of debt I will leave with may seriously impede my ability to achieve those dreams.

-Anonymous

[ohiodebtwarriors]

I could generally say that my student loan debt will affect every financial decision I make for at least the next ten years, because it will.  What my student loan debt really means to me, though, is so intimate: it will probably be the determining factor in whether or not I have more than two kids.  I dream about having another baby.  Day and night.  But I am in no way confident that I could swing the daycare cost of another child or the payment on a larger vehicle once my student loans go into repayment.  I have always thought that there are no “right” times to choose to have a baby, but there are definitely “wrong” times.  And being at the starting line of repaying six figures in student loans is a wrong time.

-Anonymous

[genprogress]

Students, activists, and lawmakers started picking up the issue of student debt and realizing that spiraling debt is a true crisis in American higher education. | 2014 was a year of action on student debt.

[ncstudentpowerunion]

"There is no shortage of money. Rather, there is a shortage of will to spend money on the core academic mission."

"Every increase in tuition and fees compromises the ability of our less affluent students to complete their education and find employment commensurate with their capabilities."

From Dr. Elizabeth Keathley, Associate Professor of Historical Musicology and Women's and Gender Studies at UNCG:

10 November 2014 Dear Chancellor Brady and UNCG Board of Trustees Chair Safran:

I write to articulate the practical and ethical reasons that I, and most faculty with whom I have discussed the matter, object to any increase in student tuition without a compensating reduction in student fees.

As has been shown repeatedly—by the Provost’s Office research in 2011 and 2012, in testimonies of students in tuition and fee forums for the last four years, in the graduate student-conducted survey on the new recreation center in the Fall of 2013, and in comments from students on an online petition opposing a new rec center[...]—every increase in tuition and fees compromises the ability of our less affluent students to complete their education and find employment commensurate with their capabilities.  Financial difficulties are the primary reason good students do not re-enroll after their first year, and many students leave school with debt, but without the degrees that will help them get good jobs to pay off that debt.  This unsustainable situation is not good for our students, for UNCG’s reputation (the last time I checked, we were no longer a U.S. News “best value” college—although Chapel Hill still is), nor is it good for the economy (Bunsis, 90—retention rates declining).

As the Chancellor has recently remarked, UNCG has a fiduciary responsibility to the State of North Carolina and its citizens. But we abrogate that responsibility if we do not attend to the way increases in tuition and fees affect our less affluent students.  It is especially egregious to persist with a tuition increase when no part of it will be used to provide financial aid to these students: these are the very students our public university is supposed to serve, providing the benefits of higher education “free of expense as far as is practicable” (NC Constitution, Article IX, Sec. 9). 

The argument that UNCG is in dire financial straits is not supported by our own audited financial statements, which, placed in the context of IPEDS and other data, make it clear that, even as enrollment has decreased, UNCG’s endowment and reserves have grown (Bunsis, 32, 35); UNCG enjoys large excess cash flows (Bunsis, 38); and UNCG spends a grossly disproportionate amount of money from student fees and the general fund on our unsustainable athletics program (Bunsis, 94, 97; on the futility of pursuing the “Gonzaga effect,” see Robert Malekoff, “Intercollegiate Athletics in Higher Education: A Sometimes Uneasy Alliance,” 29 January 2014)[...]

In summary, it is not the case that UNCG cannot give the faculty a well-deserved salary increase, hire new faculty, and make other investments in academics without a tuition increase.  There is no shortage of money.  Rather, there is a shortage of will to spend money on the core academic mission: the percentage of expenditures UNCG devotes to instruction is low and declining (Bunsis, 69, 72). 

I ask that the Board of Trustees consider recalibrating UNCG’s financial priorities, and that you only pursue a tuition increase if it is accompanied by a decrease in fees of an equal or greater amount.  Of course we faculty would like a salary increase, but not on the backs of our less affluent students.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth L. Keathley

Faculty Senator, Music, Theatre and Dance

[genprogress]

A new study from the Pew Research Center shows that middle- and upper-income students borrow twice as much as their those from similar income backgrounds a generation ago.

Students from the upper-middle and upper-income families also make up the fastest-growing group of student loan debtors in the country.

[genprogress]

A report from the Center for Responsible Lending indicates that students of color are disproportionately harmed by for-profit schools, left with crushing debt and poor job prospects.

The report looked specifically at whether additional access to for-profit colleges led to increased financial security and stability for African American and Latino students. For-profit colleges have traditionally presented themselves as a means for under-served students of color to achieve and increase their chances of earning higher wages and amassing wealth.

In short, the Center for Responsible Lending not only found that for-profits fall short of this aim, they really do the opposite.

[genprogress]

Why Identifying The Worst Colleges In America May Be Problematic

[genprogress]

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