No need for such debt

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit weary of news headlines at the moment. Of course, as a former journalist, I understand why they are so doom and gloomy because after all, we must be an informed citizenry and the unpleasantness going on the world is news. Since I like to keep up with current events I continue to scan headlines often.

A recent New York Times headline really caught my eye the other day – “Placing the Blame as Students are Buried in Debt” – and I immediately stopped what I was doing to read. It was shocking. It tells the story of a young woman determined to get a degree from a top college, assuming it would be worth it in the end. Well, she now has a degree from New York University which cost her nearly $100,000 and a job in San Francisco that pays her $22 an hour working for a photographer. She attends night school to defer her loan payments while interest is accruing. How on earth she will ever dig out is beyond her.

Who is responsible for this tragedy, and it is a tragedy because who in life can start out with that kind of debt and terrible credit history. Is it the student for continuously feeding the tuition monster of a private university? Is it her mother who co-signed from some of her daughter’s loans thinking the payoff would be worth it? The banks, perhaps, for still lending a student huge sums of money, or, financial aid advisors? These are all worthy things to consider because I certainly don’t have the answers.

What I do know is that ultimately, while higher education is worth it, bankrupting yourself to achieve it is not.
There are scholarship opportunities out there – it takes some due diligence to find them and apply – as well as Pell Grants and other federal aid that does not have to be repaid.

The cost of a degree from the College of Liberal Studies is broken down by credit hour in the box below. As you can see, these rates fall far below that of a private or for-profit institution and in my mind the result is the same which is a quality degree from a well known university. When it comes to value, the Princeton Review ranks OU in the top 10 in terms of academic excellence and affordability.

Resident Nonresident Military
Undergraduate $225 $550 $250
Graduate $260 $670 $275

I feel an obligation to help students make knowledgeable choices about financial decisions. Help and assistance is out there but you have to ask before you sign.