Brittney Calabro
Mar. 26, 2012
J305 Story #4
Education
at Risk
WSU’s
inflating tuition results in increased student debt
Brynnea
Bowman, chief justice in the Judicial Branch for the Associated Students at
Washington State University (ASWSU) can attest to the problem of tuition
increases at WSU. In her three years with ASWSU, said Bowman, not a day goes by
without students reaching out for financial support. This was not always the
case, said Bowman, every year it seems to be worse then the last.
“ I have to sacrifice my
involvement in campus organizations to work in order to compensate for tuition
increases,” Bowman said.
Bowman, a junior at WSU,
expects to rack-up nearly $60,000 in debt by the time she graduates.
Patty Winder, assistant
director for the university’s scholarship services, said 76 percent of students
apply for need-based financial aid. Realistically, only a quarter of those
students’ ever receive the full-amount of financial aid they need.
As a result of the inflating
tuition rate over time, WSU’s retention rate is slowly declining as well. The
average retention rate decreased from 84.8 percent in 2006, to 81.2 percent in
2010.
As a freshman on campus, David
Stewart pictured the next four years of his life to be filled with collegiate
sporting events, schoolwork, and having fun with friends on campus. Instead,
rising tuition costs have forced Stewart to put his education on hold.
“I have been saving money for college since high school
knowing my parents couldn’t afford it,” said Stewart. “But with the spike in
tuition, I am already falling behind in payments.”
The university budget office
reports the average amount of debt post-graduation for all student groups at
WSU is $22,000, double the national average student debt in 1991 when it was
just over $9,000. Annual in-state tuition costs have almost doubled since 2005,
as a result of government budget cuts to higher education, along with state
funding, dropping from $530 million to $260 million in the last four years, according
to the university’s budget office
Tuition increases will enable the
university to continue to make classes available so students can graduate in
four years, according to the university’s budget office. Outlining, that the
cost for students if they had to attend the university for an additional
semester or two because classes weren’t available, would be much higher than
the costs resulting from the tuition increases.
On par with many students at
WSU, Stewart finances every penny of his education through working, student loans,
and financial aid. Even with all this support, in more cases then not, its not
enough to cover a students full-time tuition and living expenses.
“My greatest fear with taking a
semester or two off to work is knowing I probably wont come back,” said
Stewart.
In October 2011 the Education
Department and Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Americans now owe more
on outstanding student loans than on credit cards. In 2010 student loans hit a
record breaking high $100 billion.
Today, the total outstanding student
loans exceed $1 trillion.
Outline
I.
Introduction
a. Brynnea
Bowman
i. ASWSU
Judicial Board Chief Justice
ii. Sacrificing
club involvement to work more
II.
Patty Winder; director of scholarship services
a. In-state
tuition doubled since 2005
i. Current
cost of attendance $24,93
Due to
state budget cuts to higher education
i. $530
million to $260 million in four years
ii. Attempt
to provide classes vs. students not graduating in years.
III.
Evidence of this trend
a. WSU
retention rate
i. 84.8
percent in 2006
ii. 81.2
percent in 2010
IV.
Other students’ experiences with student debt
a. David
Stewart
i. Already
in a lot of debt
ii. Taking
a semester off to work full time
b. Fear of
not coming back to finish education.
c. A lot
of WSU students are struggling with debt due to tuition increases
Contacts
David
Stewart
(360) 213-9931
David.stewart100@email.wsu.edu
Patty
Winder
(509) 335-1059
pwinder@wsu.edu
Brynnea
Bowman
(253) 279-2808
Bbowman1@gmail.com
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