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Graduates of NH colleges remain indebted, ranking No. 5 in US

Students graduating from New Hampshire colleges and universities continue to leave with some of the highest average debt loads in the country.

On average, students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from a Granite State higher education institution last year walked away with an average debt of $25,785, according to The Project on Student Debt, a nonprofit organization.

That was the fifth-highest average debt among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to the report “Student Debt and the Class of 2008,” an annual state-by-state ranking of student debts loads.

New Hampshire has ranked second in the past two studies, which looked at graduates from 2006 and 2007. Students graduating from New Hampshire in 2007 left college with a similar average debt of $25,211.

Despite the national average increasing by about 6 percent, there was only a minimal increase in New Hampshire’s average from 2007 to 2008, which led to its dropping in the rankings from second to fifth.

Washington, D.C. topped the most recent list, with an average student debt of $29,793. Iowa ranked second with $28,174. Connecticut and New York rounded out the top five.

Students graduating from the University of New Hampshire in Durham in 2008 left with an average debt of $27,516.

Suzy Allen, director of financial aid for UNH, said her department works with students to help them graduate with as little debt as possible. Most students are going to need federal loans, but more often, students are turning to alternative sources, such as banks, to pay for their education, she said.

“With alternative loans, they are not backed by the federal government and the interest rates are typically higher,” she said. “They’re the least attractive loans for students, but in many cases, a very necessary loan for them.”

Going into the 2009-10 school year, the direct costs of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board) increased by 6.2 percent for in-state UNH students, to $21,617 a year.

Allen said the university has increased its aid for students who need assistance in paying for college.

“There’s still only limited resources,” she said. “With the economy the way it is, we’re seeing more and more needy students.”

The study gets its figures from estimates voluntarily provided by both public and private higher education institutions. Locally, Rivier College and Daniel Webster College did not provide data.

Graduates of Thomas More College in Merrimack left with an average debt of $16,667 last year.

The study also found that despite ever-increasing costs of college and student debt, it’s getting harder for college graduates to find work, especially during the recession.

The unemployment rate for college graduates ages 20 to 24 was 7.6 percent in the third quarter of 2008. By the third quarter of 2009, that figure had risen to 10.6 percent.

Plymouth State University graduates left with an average debt of $26,636 last year. At UNH-Manchester, graduates left with debt of $18,919.

Although they pay the highest tuition in the state, Dartmouth College graduates left with average debt of only $22,126 last year. Tuition at Dartmouth for the 2007-08 school year was $35,178 for in-state students.

Thomas Horgan, president of the New Hampshire College & University Council, said one of the driving factors for student debt being so high in New Hampshire is a lack of resources from the state.

“It’s no secret that New Hampshire usually ranks last in state appropriations and support to public education institutions,” he said.

Colleges and universities have been putting more money toward assisting students with financial need, he said. The University System of New Hampshire increased funding for financial aid by 14 percent this year.

“The pressure on the colleges to provide additional financial aid is probably at the highest it’s ever been,” he said. “That puts pressure on the operating budgets.”

At Keene State College, students graduated with an average debt of $24,995 last year. College officials at Keene State said they offer students debt counseling and have been encouraging students to meet one-on-one with someone in financial services before graduating.

Carol Stanmore, associate director of student financial services at Keene, said in an e-mail that she is seeing more students reach out to her department than ever before.

“I find during the course of our conversations many families are struggling due to one or both of the parents being recently laid-off from work or becoming underemployed,” she wrote.

Keene State recently organized a fundraising campaign to help students pay for college who were facing unforeseen circumstances due to the economy. The college has been able raise $195,850.

Horgan said the rising costs of college and the lack of financial support from the state is leading to fewer young people pursuing higher education. It is critical for leaders in higher education in the state to communicate with policymakers to figure out a solution, he said.

“If we don’t, we will truly put the New Hampshire advantage in jeopardy,” he said.

The report issued by The Project on Student Debt can be found at www.projecton studentdebt.org.

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Loans for students: Secure your future

It�s a right time to secure your future with quality education. Education plays a vital role in shaping your personality and nation in broader terms as students of today are future of nation. Furthermore, this may help you to fetch good returns in your life. So, in short, it can be said that loans for students is the best source for helping or financing those students who find tough otherwise.
Considering the cost of the education, the financial institutions are offering cheap and affordable loans to the students so that they can continue or complete their studies. The terms and conditions offered to the students are quite flexible and comfortable. The lenders offer a financial help to all the students regardless of their status i.e. employed or unemployed. The best part that gives a sigh of relief to the students is that repayment can be done after the completion of the studies or when the student gets into the job. The rate of interest charged on the loan is set after the completion and present market scenario. For qualifying the loan, a student must need a co-signer. A co-signer can be either parents or guardians of a student. Student loans are also known by federal loans.

Under the financial option i.e. loans for student, various expenses are covered right from the education or tuition fee to buying of computer or books. The loan also includes student�s hostel charges including mess fee, education tours, etc. There are many benefits that are offered to the students, but for that one needs to search the internet.
Internet is flooded with loan information in aspect to student loan. There are many lenders who provide the free quotes so, it requested that borrower must compare and contrast the quotes before selecting the best deal for himself. Online calculators have made the comparison work easier. Apart from the internet, government financial institutions and banks are also there to provide you the loans for your studies. Private and reputed institutions are also there that provide loans in an easy manner.

Derik Smith is writer of No Credit Check Students.For more information about Private Student Loans No Credit visit http://www.nocreditcheckloansforstudent.com/

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Orpington College ahead of schedule for revamp

A £26m college revamp is ahead of schedule.
The revamp at Orpington College was expected to be complete early next year but is now due to be finished by next month.
Buildings dating back more than 30 years have already been demolished and the construction of a new hi-tech four-storey block is near completion.
The redevelopment, which started in July last year, also includes revamping its landmark 11-storey tower block overlooking Orpington town centre with a newly designed reception and refectory area.
It will also boast a new study centre, eco-friendly heating and cooling systems, student café and social area, along with its sports hall benefitting from a new roof and other major improvements.
Extra classroom space will also gained by transforming the existing library.
The college was given the money by the Government’s Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to provide state-of-the-art facilities which will help regenerate the town centre.
It also secured a £1m bank loan.

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Center helps parents, teachers meet student needs

For Gadsden students with ailing and failing grades, the Parent Teacher Resource Center can make a custom remedy from its wealth of services and study resources.

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These are some of the study materials at the Gadsden City Board of Education's Parent Teacher Resouce Center.
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“It's kind of like a drug store,” said Charlotte Campbell, director of instructional services for the Gadsden City School System. “You can go in and say your child is struggling in an area, and they sit down and make a prescription packet for you. This is a very important component that we have for all children that may be falling behind in school.”
The resource center, serving on average more than 200 students per month, is a part of the city's school system and has operated for more than 20 years, expanding and changing through the years to include better services and materials, said director Jamye Ingram.
“You name it, we have it,” Ingram said. “And if we don't have what a child needs, I'll go to the trouble to find out what it is and how to get it.”
The building, across from the post office on College Street, now houses about 10 employees and a special library of supplies — books, CDs, DVDs and even games — funded through a federal Title I grant. Most of the resources can be taken home permanently, while others are available on loan. All are free to parents and students within the local public school system.
They also are selected to harmonize with and augment the curriculum being taught in the system's classrooms from grades K through 12.
“We try not to give any mixed information,” Ingram said. “We prescribe packets of materials, depending on each child's needs. We get requests from parents and teachers, usually if the student is struggling in either math or reading.”
Although the center does assist with some other subjects, those are its focal points because they are the fundamental subjects that apply to every other academic area.
Given the breadth of those subjects, Ingram said it sometimes requires a little investigation to find exactly where students need help. Sometimes that involves e-mailing or calling a teacher. Other times, it may only require a conference with a parent. The prescriptions then are made based on the area where the student needs assistance and — when possible — on that student's individual learning style.
“Some students may need flash cards, and others do better with written work or CDs,” Ingram explained.
She said the grades with the heaviest demands for the center's services are kindergarten through fifth.

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£26m college revamp finished ahead of time

A COLLEGE revamp costing £26m has finished ahead of schedule.
Construction work at Orpington College was expected to be finished in spring next year but the project has been completed 10 weeks early.
Buildings, dating back more than 30 years, have been demolished and a new hi-tech four-storey block built.
The new building, called The Ozone, will house a study and IT centre with state-of-the-art computer facilities.
Principal Simon Norton said: “I am absolutely delighted about it and I think it is a fantastic building.
“We hope it will help to revitalise the town and I know this supports what Bromley Council was hoping for.”
The redevelopment, started in July last year, includes a revamp of the college’s landmark 11-storey tower block overlooking Orpington town centre with a newly designed reception and refectory area.
It also boasts a new study centre and eco-friendly heating and cooling systems, while the sports hall has been treated to a new roof.
Extra classroom space has also been gained by transforming the existing library.
Meanwhile an area known as The Hive has replaced the previous canteen and social area, and the entrance to the college has been moved from Market Square onto Lychgate Road.
Mr Norton adds: “They will be able to use much better quality classrooms and will have a better cafe and common area.
“We are also going to have a common room for our mature students.”
Orpington College, which has 1,300 students, was given the money by the Government’s Learning and Skills Council, while it also secured a £1m bank loan.
Although students and staff are already enjoying the new benefits of the buildings, the official opening will be in April next year.
In October last year workmen on the site got a surprise when they dug up an Anderson bomb shelter from the Second World War.

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Lowering the cost of education

THERE IS a fundamental law of economics which says that the more money there is chasing a finite quantity of goods, the higher the final price of that good will rise. In the university setting, this law is readily apparent as limited capacity and a rising college-bound population inevitably leads to rising tuition costs and larger student debt. However, increased financial aid, which seems to be an easy fix for this problem, may in fact only worsen it.
Instead of the government pumping more money into the education market to match rising prices, the University and other colleges shouldlook at how efficiently current capacity is being used. Rather than look to the government to solve our problems and give students more money, students and parents should look to the nation’s schools to better utilize what they have and thus bring tuition rates down to more manageable levels.
Last Thursday, The Cavalier Daily reported that the average loan debt of students has doubled over the past decade, and that this has caused a crisis by forcing students away from generally lower-paying but socially important jobs such as teaching. In sum, according the University’s Web site approximately 55 percent of in-state and 51 percent of out-of-state first years received some form of aid in 2005-2006 averaging, $7,818 and $17,841 respectively. These numbers simply do not make sense from any financial perspective. After all, half of the country does not receive free money whenever they want to buy a house or car. Instead, the market for these and any goods creates a price at which demand is satisfied.
Education is of course one of the most important determinants of one’s career path and lifetime earnings, and helping provide it is one of the few areas where government should legitimately step in. However, the government, students and universities all face an imbalanced market where the price of education — i.e. tuition — has been inflated and the only short term solution seems to be either taking out loans or providing more financial aid. This, however, is exactly the wrong approach to take because it creates more long-term problems than it does short-term solutions and will simply inflate tuition prices even further.
Jonathan Grayer, chairman of Kaplan, Inc., argued in a recent college affordability discussion that we must “[seek] to change colleges’ practices to ‘really get at the affordability question in higher education’” instead of simply finding ways to bring in more money. Through a series of papers and discussions, the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education seems to have come to the same conclusion. One “idea that would never come to be,” proposed by Richard Vedder, a professor at the University of Ohio, was to focus on a single federally-administered system that would “nearly double the current maximum Pell Grant.” Instead, several committee members hit the nail on the head by pushing efforts “that could truly bring down colleges’ costs, by reducing what they spend to educate students.” In other words, make schools more efficient.
According to Insidehigered.com, one of the Commission’s more recent papers argues that the tenure system removes requirements and accountability on professors, leading to smaller and fewer classes while burdening colleges with large long-term salary costs. This inefficiency requires universities to hire even more professors and TAs to take up the slack and meet student demands. Finally, the commission points to what it calls a “faculty-driven scheduling system” which makes poor use existing space and leads to many schedule conflicts for students.
Fortunately, the University seems to be better off than most when it comes to this problem. After all, professors almost always teach their classes in person and there are a wide variety of early morning classes available. University Spokesperson Carol Wood said in an interview that what sets the University apart is that “there is such an emphasis on teaching and being in the classroom.” Nonetheless, there is undoubtedly some relavence to the commission’s argument, and there are certainly areas in which the University could improve — most importantly in designing future construction projects to make larger classrooms more available, not just making better use of existing space and faculty.
The fundamental problem of rising tuition costs cannot be solved by simply throwing more money into the pot. This will only lead to even more inflated prices. Instead, the University should look at how it is using its current space and staff and where there is room for improvement. Finally, the University should take this into consideration when planning for future construction projects to provide more and larger spaces in which classes can be held. Overall it is essential that the University and the nation’s other schools consider long-term, rather than short-term solutions.

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Bill would establish private-loan ombudsman

A bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet would establish an ombudsman to help college students struggling with private loans.
Students currently have no federal official appointed to help them deal with private lenders, said Michael Amodeo, a Bennet spokesman.
A U.S. Department of Education ombudsman helps resolve disputes involving federal student loans, but the federal government has no equivalent official to handle private loans.
“Colorado students need to stay focused on books, not bills, and we need to give them the help they need to make that happen," Bennet said in a news release. “Our students and families should have access to the resources they need if they're having trouble with their lender or struggling to keep up with a loan."
Student debt has garnered increasing attention in recent years as college costs have shot up. In Colorado, graduating college students carried on average $18,321 in debt in 2008, according to the Project on Student Debt, an initiative of the nonprofit Institute for College Access and Success.
“We want to ensure (students) have an advocate who will help them with any problems they may have in dealing with that debt," Amodeo said.
The ombudsman would be part of the Treasury Department.
The Private Education Loan Ombudsman Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; and Al Franken, D-Minn; has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
The office of Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., was not prepared to comment on the bill Tuesday.
Fort Lewis College's Office of Financial Aid encourages students to first use federal Stafford loans before applying for private loans.
Private loans, the college says, “have more stringent qualifications of credit worthiness and a higher interest rate than federal student loans."

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MBA Students Still Banking on Finance

Despite thousands of career casualties, the crisis has not made MBA students any less eager to charge into the front lines of finance.
A third of 2009 full-time MBA candidates plan to pursue careers at finance and accounting firms, level with the past two years, according to annual surveys by the Graduate Management Admission Council, a nonprofit group that administers the GMAT.
Jonathan Lemle, in his second year at Columbia Business School, is still committed to landing a job at a real estate fund.
"If anything, the crisis has just motivated me to work harder," he said. "The jobs that I am seeking are still out there, there will just be less of them and they will ultimately be harder to obtain. The program is what you make of it."
Driving the interest in a post-MBA finance career is simple economics. Stocks and houses may be on sale, but business schools are not any cheaper than they were 18 months ago. Tuition and fees at top full-time MBA programs still average almost $90,000, roughly $100 per hour of class-time. Students, in turn, are not any less enthralled with the prospect of a lucrative Wall Street career, even if they may be harder to come by these days.
Sarah Driansky, a current MBA candidate at New York University's Stern Business School, said the cost of the degree is "truly exorbitant," though she does not regret her decision to pursue one. "It makes any career choice other than a top finance or investment banking position, a serious economic decision," she said.
The value of an MBA was questioned in the wake of the crisis, but the financial storm also whipped up a wave of applications to the country's top business programs, despite -- and possibly because of -- an anemic job market. Applications to Harvard Business School, traditionally a pipeline to Wall Street, were up 16% in 2008 and rose an additional 5% this year. The Stanford School of Business saw its applications rise 15% in both 2008 and 2009 while Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management opened 6% more applications last year and has seen a similar level this year.
The cost-benefit analysis of a business degree does not appear to have changed in the eyes of aspiring MBAs. Those who got their degrees from full-time programs in the spring -- even as the economy was on its knees -- expected a 77% increase over their pre-graduate school salaries, according to the GMAC survey. And 91% of those students said that they considered their degrees a good value.
"$100,000 certainly feels like a lot of money right now, but most of us feel as though it will pay off in the long run," said Eric Gonzalez, a current student at Columbia who spent five years prior to school working in sales and trading.
An alumni network, arguably the most-valuable aspect of a business degree, has only appreciated amidst the flood of finance pink slips.
Ellis Chase, a Manhattan-based career consultant, said that alumni connections are the only reason to go to a top-tier MBA program.
"For example, a year ago, you were an idiot if you were trying to get a job at an investment bank," he said. "But it wasn't about that. It was getting in touch with someone at an i-bank, who could introduce you to someone in a boutique outside of New York, who could introduce you to somebody working on TARP."
Chase said that he seldom advises a client against business school.


"Industry-Wide Hangover"
Still, a larger percentage of current students are facing big student loan payments without a job offer in hand than in the past, like hedge funds sweating a margin call.
Driansky, at NYU, said that the fall of 2008 showed the "bipolar nature" of the finance industry.
"It felt as though we were experiencing an industry-wide hangover," she said of recruiting for summer internships. Some of Driansky's friends were laid off just months after leaving school, while others had offers rescinded days before graduation.
Only 43% of students hoping for a job in finance or accounting had received an offer by mid-March, according to the GMAC survey.
Robyn Underwood, another MBA candidate at NYU, said that classes quickly took a backseat to recruiting when Lehman went down last fall.
"The crisis changed everything," she said. "The schools and recruiters tried to say 'don't freak out' and that everything would work out okay. In the end, things didn't turn out well for a lot of students."
Opportunities, however, are still out there. Underwood accepted a position at Credit Suisse for the spring.
Driansky managed to land a summer internship in Credit Suisse's energy group, despite the recruiting season panic. But when it came time to accept a full-time position, she went with Hess Corp. where she will still practice finance while also learning more about running a business.
"I think the crisis did change my goals," she said. "The true risk to a career in finance was that many talented people possess very similar skill sets."
For the time being, there are no signs of the MBA market cooling off. In the first 10 months of 2009, almost 213,000 people took the GMAT test required by most MBA programs, slightly more than in the same period last year and a 13% increase over 2007.
"I think things turned out a lot better than we thought they would," said Ethan Hanabury, a senior associate dean at Columbia University's Business School. "Students certainly have some concerns over their short-term prospects for jobs, but they also seem very optimistic. They are able to separate this experience from what's going on in the market."

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Student loan Repayment Program Made Easier

On July 1, the government introduced a more-lenient repayment program for federally guaranteed Stafford and Grad Plus college loans. But some lenders have not made it easy to find their applications for the program, called income-based repayment.

To make them easier to find, the Project on Student Debt has provided a new page on its Web site devoted to the program. To find it, go to www.ibrinfo.org and click on "How Do I Get Them?" This page has links to applications and phone numbers for major student lenders including the U.S. Department of Education's direct loan program.
This site has lots of other information on the program, which is designed to help borrowers who are unemployed, have very low incomes or very large college debts. It caps payments based on the borrower's adjusted gross income and family size. Any debt remaining is wiped out after 25 years - or after 10 years for workers in public or nonprofit jobs.
Students who graduated this summer - into one of the worst job markets ever - and had to begin repaying their student loans in November should check to see if they are eligible.
"It's disappointing that some of the top lenders aren't doing more to promote the program. It's a good default-prevention mechanism," says Edie Irons, spokeswoman for the Project on Student Debt.
Finaid.org also has information on the program at www.finaid.org/loans/ibr.phtml.
Speaking of jobs: Did the economy actually create payroll jobs in November? Economist Ed Yardeni thinks the answer is yes.
On Friday, the government reported that the economy shed 11,000 jobs in November, the smallest loss since the recession began in December 2007.
But when those numbers are revised, as they always are, Yardeni predicts they will show a net gain in jobs, perhaps as high as 25,000.
Yardeni says that revisions "tend to be toward the downside during recessions and to the upside during recoveries. This time, upside revisions started back in March and totaled 285,000 through October, with only one downward revision of 57,000 during July. This follows 14 consecutive months of downward revisions totaling 1.37 million."
He notes that October's job tally was revised up by 79,000 to a decline of 111,000. September was revised up twice by a total of 124,000 to a decline of 139,000."
He warns that "revisions are pretty volatile and hard to predict," but thinks the job market "has turned a corner. I'm more impressed by the plunge in initial unemployment claims. That's reconfirming that companies are slowing down their firing. Now what matters is what happens on the hiring side."

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Accommodation increases revealed

gair rhydd shows how much more you're paying for residences than you would have four years ago

The cost of living in some University residences has increased at three times the rate the maintenance loan has over the last five academic years, a gair rhydd investigation has found.
Some students are paying 40% more for a year’s accommodation than those who lived in the same room four years ago. Ten out of the 16 University residences we studied raised their fees by 30% or more since 2005/6, and three more went up by between 20% and 30%.
In contrast, the non-means-tested maintenance loan for students from England over the period increased by just 13.32%, from £3,145 in 2005/6 to £3,564 for students who started last September. For Welsh students it was 13.16%, from £3,145 to £3,559.
gair rhydd looked at accommodation fees from 2005/6 onwards for Senghennydd Court, Talybont North, Talybont South, Aberconway Hall, Aberdare Hall, Colum Hall, Roy Jenkins Hall, Gordon Hall, Senghennydd Hall, and Cartwright Court flats and houses, as well as the University’s student houses.
There were three different prices for Talybont North (houses A-R rooms 1-5; houses A-R room 6; and houses S-Y), two for Talybont South (standard and Undergraduate Plus), two for Cartwright Court (flat or house) and two for Gordon Hall (shared bathroom or ensuite).
University Hall was left out of the analysis because changes made to the pricing of different rooms meant we could not compare costs across years. We also did not include rates for rooms that covered a full calendar rather than an academic year.
A year’s residence in Colum Hall in 2009/10 cost £871 more than four years ago, a hike of 40.28%. Fees for Roy Jenkins Hall went up over the same period by 39.65%, or £704, while students in any of the Talybont North flats are paying over a third more than they would have in 2005/6.
Had Colum Hall’s increases matched those of the minimum loans, this year’s residents would have paid around £2,430. Instead they paid £3,016.
Senghennydd Court, Roy Jenkins Hall, and Aberconway Hall all cost at least 30% more than they did four years ago, as did Aberdare Hall.
Students in Aberdare Hall this year are paying nearly a fifth more than last year’s residents. The cost of a year’s accommodation in the female-only hall increased by £422 from 2008/9, a rise of 19.51%.
Undergraduates studying at Cardiff who are from lower-income backgrounds have seen the money they have for maintenance increase considerably over the period, largely due to the bursary scheme introduced in 2007/8. This means that they have been less affected by the accommodation increases.
Some of the increase in accommodation costs is covered by the annual increases in maintenance loans and grants, but in some cases the rise in residence fees is more than the increase in maintenance money. Yearly changes in maintenance support are intended to reflect inflation, so if most or all of the extra money goes on increased accommodation costs students will in real terms have less to spend on other living costs: other items will go up in price but students will have no extra money to make up for this.
The University seems to be moving towards more standardised prices for accommodation, which could explain some of the changes. In 2005/6 there were 16 different amounts for the 16 different types of residences; this year there were only seven. The percentage increases on last year’s fees were also quite similar across residences: apart from Aberdare Hall, the increases ranged from 4.39% to 4.60%.
However, the minimum maintenance loan for students from Wales only increased by 2.56%, and for English students it was 2.71%. The overall maximum available for a student from Wales, including the bursary offered by Cardiff University, went up by 2.19% to £7,413.
A University spokesperson said: “Residences Fees have always increased each session in line with a specific formula that is agreed with the Students’ Union.
“For Residences Fees 2007/8 an amnesty was agreed with the Students’ Union Presidents of 2005/6 and 2006/7. The ‘amnesty’ took into account the fact that increases in Residences Fees in recent budget years had not reflected: increases in inflation; pay awards; rising staff costs from merger harmonisation and the implementation of the National Framework Agreement; and significantly increasing utility costs. The ‘amnesty’ also presented an opportunity to re-group Residences Fees into a number of clear ‘bands’ to reflect the type of accommodation provided across the residential estate.
“Further to discussions with the Students’ Union President for 2006/7, it was also agreed to split the ‘amnesty’ increases over 2 sessions to phase the change in Residences Fees for students.
“Residences Fee increases are always reviewed and approved by the Finance Group and the Strategy and Resources Committee, the latter of which has student representation.
“Residences Fees are regularly compared against other universities and the private sector and Cardiff University residences fees remain competitive, if not lower, than many other universities and private sector residences,” the spokesperson added.
The University’s residences are part of the campus services, which also include catering, security, and conferences. From August 1st 2007 to July 31st 2008, the most recent records available, this division of the University’s operations made a surplus of £3.93 million. The residences aspect of campus services is responsible for most of this surplus.

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Financial aid last step for seniors

As fall semester ends and winter commencement approaches, graduating students need to be aware of their future student loan payments.

Dan Davenport, director of admissions and student financial aid services, said students should know where their loans are in the direct loan program.
“Seniors should be aware of how much they borrowed and their repayment options,” Davenport said.

A majority of students have a 10-year payment plan, and payments change depending on how much money students have borrowed. The minimum monthly payment is $50. After graduation, every student has a six-month grace period until each Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loan need to be paid.
“I suggest that students go to http://www.dl.ed.gov and look at all of their loans and simulate their payments,” Davenport said.

As of July 1, a new income-based repayment schedule has been enacted which requires students to pay an amount on their student loans based on their income during any period when they are having financial difficulties.

Loan cancellation is only available if a school closed before a student completed a program, a school falsely certified that the student was eligible to get the loan, the loan was falsely certified due to identify theft or a student withdrew from school and they didn’t pay a refund afforded by written policy.

University of Idaho director of admissions and student financial aid services Dan Davenport poses for a photo in the Financial Aid Office in the Student Union Building July 7. Davenport said graduating students should be aware of how much money they have borrowed.File photo

If a student were to move on to graduate school in any future semester, loan collection would be suspended when they were again enrolled.

A few helpful hints from Davenport: students should ensure their loan program always has their correct address, keep all paper work and do not be afraid to ask questions.

Student loan repayment workshops are offered until the end of the school semester, intended to assuage loan repayment stress. The workshops are available from 7 to 8 p.m.Wednesday, Dec. 9 and Tuesday, Dec. 15 and from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16 in the Silver Room of the Student Union Building.

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D.C. students graduate with highest debt rate in country

On average, graduates from D.C. schools have more college debt than any other parts of the country, according to a recent study.
D.C. graduates leave school with an average of $29,793 in debt - about $6,500 more than the national average, according to the Project on Student Debt . At GW, 2008 graduates had an average of $17,000 in federal loans and $14,000 in private loans - more than $31,000 total, and about $8,000 more than the national average, according to the Office of Institutional Research.
One reason the D.C. average may be so high is because only three private universities - GW, Georgetown and American - provided debt information for the study, said Edie Irons, communications director for the Institute for College Access and Success, which runs the Project on Student Debt. Other private schools and public universities like the University of the District of Columbia, did not participate.
"It looks like American University, GW and Georgetown are the only ones that submitted all of the data. Those are all pretty high-priced colleges, and GW and American have quite high average debts," Irons said. "It's important to understand these trends, and it's useful for students to know what the borrowing situation is at their college. It makes me wonder what's happening at Catholic University and Gallaudet and Howard and all the other colleges in D.C."
In September, The Hatchet reported that GW graduates have an average of 13 percent more debt than the national average at private universities.
Senior Rebecca Rowe said she has a student loan from Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student loan provider, but that she isn't directly involved with her loan management.
"I'm kind of kept in the dark in terms of financial management with my student loans because my father does it. So I am worried about how much debt I will end up with, you know, once I leave the University," Rowe said. "Is it going to be something that I can manage on a day-to-day, monthly-to-monthly basis or is it something that I'm going to have to come back to my parents and ask for support for?"
Rowe is not alone in those worries, Irons said. As costs to attend college continue to increase, the average amount of student debt has increased, and grants and scholarships cover less and less of the tuition.
"College, unfortunately, is unaffordable for a lot of families. Funding for grants, both the federal Pell Grant and state-based grants, have not kept pace with the rise of tuition. So families are having to borrow to make up the difference, and grants just cover less of a college education than they used to," Irons said.
In addition, the weight of loans can smother students for decades after graduation.
"Especially in this economy where unemployment is high and money is tight for everybody, graduating with high debt has a huge impact for students. For example, the national average of $23,200, that comes out to a monthly payment of about $250 a month for ten years, and that's assuming that you never miss a payment over those ten years," Irons said. "That means that it can be hard for borrowers to save money, to buy a house, to start a family, to start a business."
In an effort to combat student debt, the University made a 10 percent increase in undergraduate aid, setting aside $133 million this academic year. The office of Student Financial Assistance saw an 11 percent increase in students applying for aid this year.
"The economy is still having a tough time and people are still feeling the financial crunch," said Daniel Small, the executive director of Student Financial Assistances. "The reason I think a lot of the increase went up is people not knowing the situation would be affecting them."
Junior Kevin Robinson, who said he has Stafford loans, Perkins loans, and some state loans, said he's not worried. He tries to think positively about the job market, and said he thinks he'll pay the loans off without issue.
"[I'll have a lot of debt when I graduate] but I think I'll pay it off. But it's not going to be as hard as having a private loan. The government is a little more lenient-you get guaranteed rates," Robinson said. "I'm a music major, so [jobs are] an ever-present quality. But, yea I try not to think about it. I mean if you think, 'oh I can't get a job' then you're probably setting yourself up for failure."
Andrea Vittorio and Justine Karp contributed to this report.

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Challenging cost of legal education - Abka's passion and perseverance

Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer

Abka Fitz-Henley (right) with National Commercial Bank chairman, Michael Lee-Chin. - Contributed
Hailing from a poor financial background but having the desire to pursue law would mean taking hefty sums of money in loans to offset the huge cost or diverting interest to some other field. But with the help of sponsor-ships, a bright spark from humble beginnings will be able to shine without resorting to either of the above options.
Abka Fitz-Henley's desire to study law stems from his distinct interest in the legal field. However, his financial background could have acted as a hindrance had it not been for some timely assistance from corporate Jamaica.
"I would have had to pursue (the option of a) student loan which is a difficult factor as law is expensive," Fitz-Henley responded when asked how he would have managed without the sponsorships.
"For the first year it was $200,000 but for the second and third years, when you include boarding and stuff, it nearly cost a million dollars. Then you have to go back to Norman Manley (Law School) the other two years and that's another hefty sum.
Indictment
"Taking a student loan to do law is like an indictment because you have to take a lifetime to pay it back. And it affects how you are able to function after school or even contribute to society, because you have this loan on your head," he added.
Due to his academic credentials, the scholar who is now in his second year reading law, was able to secure a scholarship from the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation coupled with an offer from Douglas Halsall of Advanced Integrated System.
Fitz-Henley noted that he looked up to the chairman of NCB, Michael Lee-Chin.
"Having conversed with the man, his genuine passion and commitment to play his role in rescuing Jamaica stands out," he said.
He disclosed, however, that after the award from NCB, there was a significant shortfall which Halsall made up.
In addition to the two, Abka gave credit to Public Defender W. Earl Witter, head of Norman Manley Law School, Professor Stephen Vasciannie, as well as family and friends who helped him to beat the odds to pursue his career.
Greatest debt
"For me, this is further inspiration as I believe that the greatest debt one may incur is a promise to do good," he added.
Abka has been excelling since age 12. At that time, he was celebrating his success in six GCE and CSEC subjects including mathematics and English. For the youngster who was home-schooled, achievements went further two years later, when he pursued the sciences, bringing the number of subjects to 13. He then went on to do sixth-form at Ardenne High, where he sat his A' Levels so that he could matriculate at law school.
The valedictorian for Ardenne was vice-president of the students' council and captain of the debating team. He won more than 16 best speaker awards.
In 2007, he represented the Caribbean at the Presidential Classroom in Washington D.C., where he received a standing ovation.

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Cology and Overture Technologies Bring New Private Loan Solutions to School and Lender Communities

Cology Inc., the technology and universal core processing experts, and Overture Technologies, the leading provider of solutions that help students and their families make better financial decisions, today announced a strategic relationship. The arrangement will integrate Volta, Cology's core processing system with Overture's Student Loan Marketplace (www.overturemarketplace.com). The pairing will provide a turnkey private loan program that lenders can use to easily enter the market and effectively serve students in their local communities.

"We are excited to partner with Cology to help lenders reach students in their local communities through our Student Loan Marketplace," said Russ Carlson, CEO of Overture Technologies. "The combination of Cology's loan processing engine and Overture's innovative comparison tool gives new and existing lenders a sophisticated and flexible way to manage their portfolio of private student loans."

Cology's technology solution makes it simple for resource providers in any community to enter the private student lending market, where they can customize their loan and resource programs, as well as integrate seamlessly with existing school processes. Volta supports traditional credit-based loans, college payment plans, peer-to-peer lending, as well as member-based programs for foundations, alumni associations, corporate sponsors and individual donors.

"The relationship is a perfect fit," said Paul Rehnberg, CEO of Cology. "Overture has created a valuable tool for students and their families who are seeking college finance solutions. Cology's core processing system will make it easy for lenders and providers in the community to make resources available for students to pay for college."

Overture Technologies provides tools to help students intelligently navigate the process of funding their education. Overture's Student Loan Marketplace matches students with personalized private loan rates and terms from participating lenders.

About Overture Technologies

Founded in 2000, Overture Technologies is the leading provider of solutions that help students and their families save money by making better financial decisions. Using patent-pending technology, Overture helps students create comprehensive plans for financing their education as well as source competitive rates on private student loans through a marketplace of national lenders, credit unions and other not-for-profit organizations. For more information about Overture, visit www.overturecorp.com.

About Cology Inc.

Cology provides technology and core processing solutions for lenders. Volta(TM), the company's universal core processing system, is the technology behind more than 100 of the nation's resource providers in the education finance market today. The platform's highly customized client branding features, expansive loan, tuition payment, donor and peer product suite and back office loan processing experts make entering the market fast, efficient and easy. For additional information on how to become a lending resource for students, visit: http://cology.com/Discover.aspx . For information about Cology, visit: www.cology.com .

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Student loan debt a ‘crushing burden’ that harms young families, expert says

The “crushing burden” of student loans delays marriage and childbirth and encourages cohabitation, family policy expert Allan Carlson said in a lecture on Friday. He urged a pro-family debt relief program to help alleviate the financial stresses student loans can cause. Carlson, who is President of the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society, spoke at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.
“In cultures around the world and throughout recorded history, the common practice has been to use dowries (the property brought by young women into their marriages) and other marital gifts to provide newlyweds with working capital at the beginning of their marriage,” Carlson wrote in a 2005 paper. “This cultural strategy has aimed at encouraging marriage, stable homes, and the birth of children.”
However, the recent practice of burdening young adults with substantial educational debt appears to significantly discourage marriage and childbirth.
At the FRC on Friday, Carlson cited a 2002 survey indicating that 14 percent of indebted students delayed marriage because of their loans, while 21 percent delayed having children. In 1988 these numbers were nine and 12 percent, respectively.
This debt can also cause problems in marriages. One survey which examined 41 marital problems and found that “debt brought into marriage” was the third most problematic issue facing newlyweds. Among respondents who had no children, debt was the second most problematic problem. Among respondents ages 29 and below, debt was named the most problematic issue.
Carlson suggested student loan debt has encouraged a “retreat” from marriage.
The marriage rate for women aged 20-24 declined 41.4 percent between 1984 and 2004. The rate for women aged 25-29 declined 19.4 percent. For men, the marriage rate in those cohorts declined 45.5 percent and 29.6 percent, respectively.
Cohabiting couples have increased from 1.6 million in 1980 to 5.1 million in 2004. This has significant effect on the family, as cohabiting couples are less stable, more prone to domestic violence and more prone to infidelity even after they marry. Children of cohabiting couples show the same level of well-being as children of single mothers, a much poorer well-being than children of married parents.
Carlson added that women who receive a college degree or above tend to remain childless compared to those without a university degree. The higher a woman’s qualifications, the less likely she is to marry or cohabitate.
If these women do marry, they are more likely to marry college-educated men. This means their debt obligation is likely to be twice as high as individual debt.
Student loan debt also has effects on health care costs, Carlson noted in the question and answer session after his lecture. Doctors who exit medical school with massive debt must insist on a large income to repay it. This pressures doctors to prefer specialized fields which pay more than general practice.
He added that young couples’ unrealistic expectations, like the supposed need for a $40,000 wedding or an expensive first home, also discourage marriage. However, he suggested, the decline in housing prices could help improve the marriage rate.
To assist young married couples and encourage childbirth, Carlson proposed that for each child born or adopted, the federal government pay off 25 percent of married parents’ outstanding student debt, up to $5,000 each for mother and father.

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2008 Graduates of Connecticut Colleges With Loans Had Third-Highest Debt Load In Country

Graduates of Connecticut colleges and universities in the Class of 2008 had the third-highest student loan debt in the country, according to a report from the California-based Project on Student Debt.

While nationally college seniors with loans graduated with an average of $23,200 in loan debt in 2008, Connecticut graduates with loans carried an average of $26,138.

The only areas higher than Connecticut were the District of Columbia with an average of $29,793 and Iowa with $28,174. On the low end were Utah at $13,041 and Hawaii at $15,156.

Why are some states so much higher than others? "There's no single answer involved," said Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, which produced the Project on Student Debt. "Conditions are different in different states: It has to do with the types of schools, the prices they charge, the availability of student aid, the cost of living and also the demographics of the students themselves."

She said that the Northeastern states are disproportionately represented among the "high debt" states, possibly because the region tends to have more students attending private colleges and higher than average tuition for public and private colleges.

Five of the six New England states are ranked in the top 10; Massachusetts is sixteenth.

New England college seniors are also more likely to graduate with debt than seniors elsewhere in the country. In Connecticut, 63 percent of graduating seniors in 2008 had debt; that percentage was 17th-highest in the country.

Two Connecticut schools made it onto a list of private nonprofit colleges in which students with loans carry a particularly high amount of debt: the University of Hartford, with an average student debt of $38,852; and Quinnipiac University, with $37,849.

Michael P. Meotti, Connecticut's commissioner of higher education, said he is not at all surprised that students attending colleges in Connecticut and other Northeastern states carry higher debt.

"In other parts of the country 80 to 90 percent of students attend public institutions," said Meotti, which tend to be bargain-priced, compared to private colleges and universities. "People don't realize how vastly different it is here. ... There aren't many states that have more students going to private schools than in Connecticut."

Judith Greiman, president of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, noted that about half of all bachelor's degrees and more than half of all graduate degrees awarded in Connecticut are conferred by private colleges and universities. She attributed the higher debt loads to the higher numbers of students at private colleges in the Northeast, along with what she said is higher average tuition costs at public universities here. Meotti said that the most important point in the report was that "people are taking on more debt and it's continuing to increase."

The report says that the amount of loan debt carried by students has been creeping up nationally, increasing by about 6 percent each year since 2003-04, when the average debt was $18,650. Also, significant, Asher, of the Institute for College Access & Success, said, is the increase in the percentage of graduates with debt from four-year colleges: up from 58 percent in 1996 to two-thirds of all students now.

The increasing amounts of debt present a particular challenge, Asher said, as unemployment rates for young college graduates also have risen. The unemployment rate for college graduates aged 20 to 24 was 7.6 percent in the third quarter of 2008; by the third quarter of 2009, the rate had climbed to 10.6 percent.

"With debt and unemployment at record levels, young college graduates may feel stuck between a rock and a hard place," Asher said in a statement.

At Quinnipiac University, Dominic Yoia, director of financial aid, said it appears that the average debt load figure for students at the university "in and of itself isn't alarming because students seem to manage the debt very well."

In the 10 years that he has been at the college, Yoia said, the federal loan default rate has been 1 percent or less.

The study includes private and government loans taken out by students, but not loans by parents. In Connecticut, with many middle-class parents taking out loans for their children's education, Meotti said the actual debt per family is probably higher than indicated by the study. The numbers used in the study were voluntarily reported by colleges.

Asher said the Institute for College Access & Success started the project on debt four years ago because, "There is a really significant change in the way Americans are expected to pay for higher education. A generation ago, a low-to-moderate income student going to a state college, working truly part time and full time in the summer for minimum wage, would, through a combination of subsidies, not have to borrow. That same student would have to borrow today."

"College is still a good investment and some borrowing is a reasonable response to the cost structure," she said, but "it's really important for people to know that no investment is without risks."

Borrowing a great deal as a student, Asher said, can in the future "have implications for whether you save for a home, start a family, start a business, or save for retirement."

• Related
• Average Student Debt
  
  

  Nationwide
  State	Average Debt	Rank in Nation	Percent Students w/ Debt
  District of Columbia	$29,793	1	49%
  Iowa	$28,174	2	73%
  Connecticut	$26,138	3	63%
  New York	$25,950	4	65%
  New Hampshire	$25,785	5	70%
  Minnesota	$25,558	6	72%
  National Average	$23,200

  
  

  2008 Graduates of CT Schools
  University of Hartford	$38,852
  Quinnipiac University	$37,849
  Fairfield University	$32,857
  Sacred Heart University	$27,516
  Wesleyan University	$27,402
  Western Connecticut State University	$23,970
  University of Connecticut	$21,521
  Connecticut College	$21,283
  Southern Connecticut State University	$19,007
  Trinity College	$17,218
  Yale University	$12,297
  Central Connecticut State University	$10,500

  
  

  Source: The Project on Student Debt, an initiative of the Institute for College Access & Success 

Careers a factor in dealing with college debts

The average college senior who graduated last year left campus with student loan debt of $23,200, according to The Project on Student Debt. The debt burden has grown about 6 percent annually for each graduating class since 2004, according to the Berkeley, Calif. group, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others.
Researchers reported that 71 percent of bachelor's degree graduates from Pennsylvania colleges and universities left with debt averaging $25,219, the seventh highest among states.
Averages were even higher for some Pennsylvania schools: $26,800 at Penn State's main campus, $29,346 at Carnegie Mellon University, $29,616 at Duquesne University and $31,149 at Point Park University. Figures for the University of Pittsburgh's main campus weren't included in the study, but graduates from its Bradford campus left with average debt of $26,463.
Because of data collection issues, the state figures may understate average debt levels by as much as $5,000 and the percentage of students with debt by as much as 12 percentage points, according to the report.
Those are big numbers given the job market. Researchers said the unemployment rate for graduates ages 20 to 24 was 10.6 percent in the third quarter, a record since the federal government began tracking that group in 2000.
Graduates' ability to repay their loans depends on whether they find a job and, if they do, how much it pays. Such practical considerations frequently take a back seat when students and parents select a school, a major and decide how they are going to pay for college. Monthly loan repayments seldom enter the picture until after graduation.
Just how manageable those payments are depends on the amount of debt, a graduate's paycheck, the types of loans and the schedule for repaying them. That's why the fictional "average" student -- someone you'll never find at the library or a frat party -- doesn't tell the whole story.
While the "average" graduate may have $23,200 in debt, the College Board reports that 34 percent of 2007-08 bachelor's degree graduates left with none. However, the testing service said 19 percent left with $30,000 or more in loans and 10 percent left with $40,000 or more.
There also can be big differences in their paychecks. The average 2009 bachelor's degree graduate received a starting salary of $48,633, down 1.2 percent from the previous year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The Bethlehem, Pa., outfit, which studies the college job market, says the average reflects the $85,417 average starting salary for petroleum engineering graduates and the $65,675 for chemical engineering grads as well as the $34,290 starting pay for sociology majors and $36,604 for English majors.
Export financial planner C. Bradley Bond estimates a graduate from a Pennsylvania college who borrowed $25,000 -- $219 less than "average" -- from federal loan programs with an average interest rate of 6.6 percent would have monthly payments of about $285 for 10 years.
For a graduate earning the "average" annual salary of $48,633, that's 7 percent of pretax pay. For someone making only $30,000 a year, it's more than 11 percent out of their weekly paycheck for a decade.
But consider the case of someone who borrowed $30,000 and used federal loans as well as private financing, which carries higher interest rates. According to the College Board's loan calculator (www.collegeboard.com), someone with $19,000 in federally subsidized Stafford Loans and $11,000 in private loans at 10 percent would have to pay $353 a month for 10 years to retire student loans. That's nearly 9 percent of pretax pay for the "average" graduate, but 14 percent for someone earning only $30,000 a year.
Student loan debt "is a very big problem for the minority of students who graduate with debt too high to manage relative to their income," said Patricia Steele, a policy analyst with the College Board. "Debt also limits one's ability to freely choose important lower paid jobs in public service fields."
Besides rent, food, clothing, entertainment and other expenses, graduates may have to borrow to buy a car. Then there's credit cards: College loan maker Sallie Mae reports the Class of 2008 graduated with average credit card debt of more than $4,100, up from $2,900 about four years ago. Nearly 20 percent of seniors carried balances exceeding $7,000.
Mr. Bond says graduates with too much student loan debt, lower paying jobs or both will have a harder time saving for a down payment on their first home and getting an early start on saving for retirement.
Those long-term goals aren't on the agenda for the rising number of college graduates struggling with debt, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which reports rising student loan default rates. Of graduates who began repaying loans from October 2006 through September 2007, 6.7 percent had defaulted on the loans by September 2008. A year earlier, the rate was 5.2 percent.
Events of the past year have given debt a bad name, but that doesn't have to be the case. Students and parents with realistic expectations of how much they can afford to pay for college, how much of that they can borrow and what the post-graduation paycheck will look like stand a better chance of using debt wisely.

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Students 'should pay 2.5% interest'

Graduates should be hit with a 2.5% real rate of interest on their student loans to pay for a national civic service scheme, a think-tank has said.
University students would also be forced to do 100 hours of community service under the recommendations in the Service Nation report by think tank Demos.
Researchers estimate an investment of £450 million to set up the national service-style scheme could yield more than £1 billion in economic and social returns.
A civic corps serving the nation would help local communities, ease the burden on public services and boost young people's employability, the report said.
Co-author Sonia Sodha said the student loan interest rise would be a "fair levy" on those benefiting from state-subsidised university education.
"Civic service needs to be for everyone, not just a route out of employment or disengagement for the explosion of Neets (young people not in employment, education or training) caused by the recession," she said.
"Those who have gained most - graduates and the employed - must also give something back."
Higher Education Minister David Lammy backed the call for a national civic service, saying he hoped it was included in the next Labour manifesto. But he said he would not support making students pay for the scheme.
Mr Lammy said: "I have long campaigned for a national civic service and I hope the recommendations from this excellent report find their way in to the next Labour manifesto.
"In a consumerist age young people need more opportunities to develop an ethic of service to others. In a multicultural Britain we must bring together young people from different backgrounds to encounter and work alongside one another."

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Financial control: UTEP students take the GECU Savings Challenge, take away lessons

EL PASO -- You don't have to live paycheck to paycheck.
That's one of the lessons participants of the annual GECU Savings Challenge have learned in a yearlong battle to get their finances under control.
The contestants -- six students at the University of Texas at El Paso -- have also been encouraged to steer away from student loans if possible and try to finance their education with scholarships and grants that don't have to be paid back.
"The greatest thing I learned is knowing you can save even if it's a little bit. You don't have to live paycheck to paycheck, and there's money in the bank for emergencies," said Claudia Valero, 23. She's a UTEP sophomore pursuing a degree in English literature, with plans to become a high-school English teacher.
"We're still saving $200 to $300 per month" even though Valero's husband lost his job during the summer and the couple, and their 4-year-old son, are living on his unemployment check, she said.
They have saved $3,600 since the Savings Challenge began in January, and they have kept their $1,200 income tax refund in reserve in their checking account. They've also paid off $3,000 worth of credit-card debt, she said.
"We had no savings before the Challenge. We were just living paycheck to paycheck," Valero said. "Our budget was spend until the credit card was declined. Now we have a budget," and paid off all but one credit card, she said.
 Valero is one of the contestants in the college edition of the Government Employees Credit Union's third Savings Challenge. The winner of the contest, who will be announced Dec. 13 at halftime of the UTEP-NMSU basketball game, will receive a $10,000 prize. The other participants will each receive prizes of $2,500 each.An accounting firm determines the winner by reviewing the participants' financial records to see who has saved the most money, paid off the most debt and created an effective budget. Also figuring into the winning equation is how students have been able to find sources, other than student loans, to pay for their education.
Harriet May, GECU chief operating officer, said college students were targeted for the credit union's third Savings Challenge because "they come out of college loaded with debt."
Many college students don't know how to handle their finances, May said. Students need to learn "how to save and borrow wisely, and how to pay for college," she said.
Roger Portillo, 29, a UTEP junior studying accounting, said he's stopped trying to borrow the maximum amount he could get from federal student loans, and now is only getting the amount he needs to cover tuition not covered by federal grants and for books. He's also won a $600 scholarship for the next semester.
"I've separated needs from wants. Before, I was maxing out more than what I needed for tuition," said Portillo, who has a student loan debt of about $13,000.
Valero said she also has stopped getting student loans to pay for extraneous expenses, and is relying solely on grants and other financial aid to pay her tuition.
The Savings Challenge coaches "encouraged me to stop doing that (student loans) if you don't have to," said Valero, who has accumulated $11,000 in student loans. "You have to stop incurring debt and start paying it off."
At UTEP, 9,406 students now have student loans, which average $14,215, according to UTEP data.
Krystal Hoganson, 24, a UTEP sophomore studying electrical engineering, said she received $5,000 in scholarships this semester for expenses, and also is now getting her tuition paid through UTEP's Promise Plan, for entering freshmen, and transfer students with annual family incomes of less than $30,000. Hoganson transferred from El Paso Community College to UTEP this year. She never applied for scholarships before the Savings Challenge.
Getting money for her tuition and other school expenses has allowed Hoganson to reduce her hours at work to part time so that she can spend more time on her school work, she said.
Alex Rascon, one of the Savings Challenge coaches, said being able to work part time can help a student get through college faster. "If you delay graduating, you delay your (higher) earnings potential," he said.
Rascon said that if a student can't get grants or scholarships to pay for tuition, then a federal student loan is the "next-best option." If a student can eliminate other debts before graduation, he said, then it will be easier for the student to pay off the federal loans. Students start paying back the federal loans after graduation.
Robert Armstrong, 30, who received a degree in communication at UTEP last summer and now is working on a master's degree in leadership studies, said his student loans total about $40,000. But, he said, the budgeting skills he learned in the Savings Challenge have made him more prepared to pay off the loan when he gets out of school.
"We got rid of $5,000 in debt," which will make it easier to pay off the student loans in the future, Armstrong said. He and his wife also have saved $5,000 since the Challenge began in January, even though Armstrong was unemployed for two months and had to take a lower-paying, part-time job he said. His wife is a bank supervisor.
Armstrong, who has four children, said paying for school and raising a family at the same time has been a financial challenge.
The Savings Challenge taught him and his wife "how to survive on a reasonable budget instead of worrying about each bill as it comes in," Armstrong said. "Without a budget ... you're navigating in the dark."
It also taught him how to communicate with his wife and children about financial issues, he said.
Lucia Calixtro, 23, a UTEP senior pursuing a degree in bilingual education, said the Challenge has made her understand "how to tackle my debt" of $20,000 in student loans after she graduates next year.
Calixtro said she decided to go from a part-time to full-time job at an El Paso bank to pay off her credit-card debt faster. She's reduced her credit-card debt from $3,200 to about $1,200 since January and has saved $3,000.
Before the Challenge, if Calixtro had money, she spent it, and "if I didn't have it, I would spend it using credit cards," she said. "I won't use a credit card anymore."
Portillo, the accounting student, said he and his wife always had a budget, but they lived paycheck to paycheck because they never saved money.
The couple have saved $6,500 since January, which has allowed them to stop paying for emergencies with a credit card.
"I paid $580 (from savings) to fix my wife's car. Last year, that would have gone on a credit card," Portillo said. "The bottom line is I've learned the value of a dollar."
Christopher Bobino, 22, a UTEP junior studying electrical engineering, said learning how to save during the Challenge has been a lifesaver since he lost his job at the UTEP dormitory where he lives.
"I'm not saving now; I'm just living off what I have." His savings have decreased from $1,400 to about $900, he said.
Hoganson, the other electrical engineering student in the Challenge, said she was "financially irresponsible" and a "walking financial mess" before entering the contest.
"I had 37 (bank account) overdraft fees last year," which cost more than $1,000, she said. She had racked up a $10,000 debt from credit cards and fees for broken rental leases. The debts grew because they were turned over to collection agencies.
"My main goal for participating in the challenge was to get the opportunity to attack my debt like a bear," Hoganson said, adding a "growl" to punctuate her desire. She's whittled her debt down to about $3,000, and has about $4,000 in savings, she said.

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