Graduating With Debt The Only Option For Many College Students

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As the price of tuition steadily increases at many colleges and universities, borrowing money often becomes the only means to pay for education, Iowa college students said in interviews as the current school year ended. Students at Coe College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, saw a constant rise in tuition over the last four years. They were expected to pay $40,670 in the 2015-16 academic year but that has become $45,230 for the 2019-20 school year. Neither amount includes room and board. Leslie Ortiz, 21, from Houston and a junior this past school year, estimated that she will have loans totaling $38,000 by the time she graduates.

small colleges

Tuition Increases A Natural Part Of Small Colleges

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You become aware at Cornell College that school leaders take pride in the Mount Vernon, Iowa, college’s small class sizes and bonds students, professors and staff members make. But the college’s modest enrollment of about 1,000 also means a smaller pool of tuition-paying students supporting facilities that attract people to the school. Tuition increases become a natural part of the college. Parents can help their children prepare for college costs by saving for them, Pamela Perry, the college’s director of financial planning and assistance, said. “I think a lot of families aren’t really thinking that far down the road yet,” she said.

college debt

Iowa’s Newest College Graduates Share Old Problem: Debt

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Some students graduating from an Iowa college or university this month will have to pay off debts that could be close to $100,000. Other loans facing college students are far lower and a lot of students have avoided debt. But for many, taking out loans remains necessary in order to go to college, an IowaWatch College Media journalism project showed. “I don’t wanna’ be in debt, but I made the decision to come to school and I think for most students, when they make that decision, it’s kind of already married to the decision to take students loans as well,” Nick Hodges, finishing his senior year in communication studies and writing at Coe College, said. Hodges, 28, from Crawfordsville, Indiana, was one of several students interviewed at eight Iowa college campuses this spring for the IowaWatch project.

education costs

High Textbook Costs Are Sending College Students Looking Elsewhere During Studies

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Dylan Miller spent $495 on college textbooks at the University of Northern Iowa – $167.50 for a linear algebra textbook – in the spring semester just ending, yet said he might have used the books, perhaps, once a month. The internet? Used it close to two hours each day, he said, raising the issue of why he still buys textbooks. “That’s a great question,” Miller, 20, a sophomore this spring semester from Homestead, Iowa, and studying for a major in actuarial science, said. “I will not be buying textbooks next semester.”

A lot of college students are avoiding textbooks costs that generally can range from around $20 for a book on writing grant proposals to $400 for a physics book, a spring IowaWatch/College Media Journalism Project revealed.

Blog

Listen To The Podcast Of IowaWatch’s Most Recent WMT Appearance

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One of WMT radio talk show host Bob Bruce’s guests the afternoon of May 17, 2014, was IowaWatch’s executive director-editor, Lyle Muller. They talked about a variety of topics including, at the end of the program, IowaWatch’s stories about college debt in Iowa. You can listen to a podcast of the program here. Advertising in the podcast is WMT’s, not IowaWatch’s. IowaWatch is part of the 501(c)(3) non-profit Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism.

Education

Huge Debts Temper Job Searches For 2014 College Graduates In Iowa

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Plenty of seniors on Iowa college campuses interviewed this spring for an IowaWatch report on college debt and attitudes about finding a job have been in an ‘in-the-now moment’. They will graduate soon and many of them don’t have solid plans for paying the bills.