Interview- Courtney Bugg

Summary:
I had the opportunity to interview my sister, Courtney, who just graduated through Penn State's online schooling in May. She received her masters in Human Resources immediately after getting her bachelors degree. She is now employed at Pinnacle Health in Harrisburg and is currently getting monthly bills about her loans that need to be paid.

Q: What was the most beneficial decision you made going into college?

A: Going to HACC for 2 years, then doing school online while still working full-time.





Q: How much are your monthly payments currently?

A: About $400 a month.




Q: Is your current job the one you envisioned you'd have?

A: No, but it's a good stepping stone for a job that I could possibly get down the road. Also, my current job is the same field that my major is so it's beneficial for attaining experience and knowledge.




Q: Would you do anything different during your college years?

A: Not attend IUP for half a semester because it was much more expensive than the previous two forms of college and it was harder to focus on school at a bigger school.

Interview with Kara Strack 

Interview summary:

I had the opportunity to interview Kara Strack, who is a junior Biology major and Business minor at Lebanon Valley College. She inspires to specialize in the sports medicine field but the cost of college is most likely going to prevent her from t

his dream. We discussed her current student debt and how this is affecting her choice of medical school. Additionally, she gave her insight of how she believes the student debt crisis could be fixed.

Questions:

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?

A: Grad school, possibly school to become a physician’s assistant or a masters program in a medical related field, any program I can get into and be able to afford.

Q: Do you know how much student debt you will have post graduation from LVC?

A: Probably a little over $100,000.

 Q: How is this debt effecting your plans post graduation, would your plans be different if your student debt would be smaller?

A: The debt is overwhelming and definitely influences my medical school plans. Medical school is very time consuming and expensive. At this point I do not have the means to be able to pay for medical school.

Q: If money were not an issue, what would be your dream field to work in?

A: Sports medicine doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Q: Do think the government should work on providing means to lower the nation’s high student debt?

A: Yes.

Q: How do you think the government should do this?

A: More taxes on the wealthy, more tax money toward the education system, stricter means of allowing applicants into college, more in depth background/financial checks to give out funds to those who really need it.

Q: How do you see college being in the future?
A: More online, Skype classes, be able to save money and not have to pay for room and board, more segregation of majors meaning science majors will more likely be on campus because of labs while other majors, such as English, do not need as much in class work.

Average Time to Pay off Student Debt

Student Loan Expectations: Myth vs. Reality

About half of current students said student loan debt is making them reconsider finishing college.

Current college students expect to pay off their loans faster than average.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/10/07/student-loan-expectations-myth-vs-reality

Article Summary:

Pennsylvania student debt is among the highest in the country. The following article discusses three PA colleges, both private and public universities. While PA is working on creating more funding for students PA, as well as the nation as a whole, is experiencing increasing levels of student debt.

Link to article: http://lancasteronline.com/pa-student-debt-burdens-are-among-us-highest-but-millersville/article_5fb253a2-7dbb-11e5-b681-bf23750289b9.html

Key take aways:

• Pennsylvania is ranked third in the country of highest debt 
• Nationwide, average debt is increasing twice as fast as inflation
• PA's class of 2014 owes of $33,264
• Elizabethtown College graduates owe on average $30,355 
• F&M grads owe $27,474
• Millersville grads owe $27,565
• PA is working on boosting funding for students to help lower the overwhelming debt they have post graduation

Student Loan Forgiveness

I found this article to be interesting about the student debt of 2014 college graduates and the rising rate of student debt in the coming years for graduates.

• Student debt is still on the rise for new graduate
• About 17% of 2014 graduates' debt was in private loans
• The report found considerable variation in the amount of student debt among states as well as colleges
• 2014 graduates are more likely to have student debt than their peers in 2004
• The 2014 unemployment rate for young college graduates was 7.2 percent.

New Student Debt Report Takes Close Look at Class of 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/equal-justice-works/new-student-debt-report-t_b_8576028.html

Tell us what you think! Comment Below.

Students Protest Student Debt, 'Education is a Human Right'

The Collegiate Times has reported on students at Virginia tech protested their tuition and student debt, arguing that public colleges should be free in one of their latest articles.

They chanted:  "Hey hey ho ho where does our tuition go?"  "VT! VT! Sure doesn't come back to me."

The protest was apart of the #MillionStudentMarch arguing that education is a human right, not a privilege.

The march was not just about making public schooling free, the protest also argued diminishing all of the current student debt, and requiring a $15 minimum wage on campuses.

Currently, students in America contribute to 1.2 trillion dollars in student debt, and the average student in the graduating class at Virginia Tech will owe $35,000.

Students leading the protest were questioned because they did not have their protest approved to be on campus, did not pay for risk insurance, and did not have a university sponsor; therefore, violating university policies.  The protest was then directed off campus.

Students at Virginia Tech were just one of the hundreds of universities who participated in the #MillionStudentMarch on Nov. 12.

I was personally unaware of this protest that took place, but I think it is a great way for students to voice their opinions on this growing public issue.  We need to spread the word about college debt and find a solution.  Student debt continues to rise with increasing tuition rates, making it harder and harder for students to payback their loans in a timely fashion.

What are your opinions on the increasing student debt crisis?