Two Takes on College Tuition and Student Loan Debt

By Maggie Schmitz and Elliot Haverland

            Maggie Schmitz

In today’s world, it is very hard to achieve success in the real world without first getting a college degree. Choosing a college can be one of the hardest decision that an 18-year-old has to make. Something that makes the already stressful process of choosing a college even harder is the scary high cost of college tuition. College expenses are what steer most students away from attending universities that they had always dreamed of attending, and have even caused students to turn away from colleges that they could benefit from attending.

One senior at Potosi High School planning to attend UW-Oshkosh next fall says, “The high cost of private universities held me back from going to one. Though the private school was nice and small, it was definitely not worth the cost.” Other seniors are planning on attending the University of Wisconsin-Platteville because of its low tuition and the fact that it is close to home. Some attending there are even planning to live at home to save money on food and living expenses. At the end of the day, no matter what college a student decides to attend, tuition is going to be costly anywhere.

The problem that most people end up running into is that they don’t save money. For a high schooler to save every possible cent they receive for college is highly unrealistic, but students seem to later regret not saving money prior to attending college. Even high school seniors are already starting to regret not financially preparing for college sooner. One student says, “If I were to give an underclassman a piece of advice, I’d tell them to start putting money aside for college as early as possible.”

Though there are many seniors who are currently very frantic about how they are going to afford college, there are some who feel very confident and prepared. Some students have been saving throughout high school and don’t feel fear about the high costs. Though saving money is hard for most, it isn’t hard for all. “Saving money is fairly easy for me. I am very committed to saving as I save every paycheck I receive and put it towards college,” says one high school senior who works as a CNA.

Seniors are already planning out what they will have to do in the future to pay for their college expenses. Most students plan to get jobs within the first two years of going to school. Some plan to wait until at least their sophomore year while others are planning to start working right away. Almost every senior is planning on taking out student loans to pay for their tuition. While some students are not fond of the idea of borrowing money, others don’t seem too worried about it. One student claims, “Student loans don’t scare me because many people are living with student debt and doing just fine. I plan to take out loans and hope to get a good job and pay them back as soon as I can.” Another student who is attending a private college with high tuition costs even states, “I don’t think they will become a problem. I plan to do some insane budgeting. I also don’t plan on becoming an extravagant person and I’ll make sure that I don’t live beyond my means.” One future college freshman even believes that loans will be very beneficial to him. Student loans can help take the stress off of having to think about money. He will use student loans so he can live and enjoy his life while paying off his college instead of being broke and bored.

Although student loans are a very beneficial resource, student debt can add up very quickly and can potentially be very dangerous if you end up not being able to pay it off. Other options such as financial aid and scholarships are helping to reduce the tuition cost for students. Applying for scholarships does take a lot of time and energy, but they can really help to bring down the high cost. “Apply for as many scholarships as possible. It does take time but it will benefit you when it’s all over,” states a high school senior.

At the end of all of the saving, financial aid, and scholarships, students are most likely still going to have a chunk of money left to pay. College can be scary when thinking about all of the money that is going towards your education. One student says, “You are now paying for your education; it’s no longer just given to you. There is a high price you have to pay whether you are succeeding or failing.” The high cost of college does seem ridiculous, but it really does help make students realize that they should take their college education seriously and the cost they pay motivates them to work harder.

The thought of paying for a college education can be a very terrifying thing, but almost every successful person goes through it and everyone has the ability to be successful.

Elliot Haverland
High school can be really hard on a person, and being a senior only adds to those struggles. Seniors have the same workload of a sophomore and junior, plus some. They need to worry about jobs, while also focusing on schooling and applying for colleges and scholarships. Scholarships and college preparations are a huge part of senior year, and it can all be really overwhelming. How can a newly minted young adult work on all of these things at once? Here are a few ways that this year's seniors are going about it.

Mariah Cull plans on going to Southwest Technical Institute to study in their criminal justice program. She wants to live in an on-campus apartment complex with a friend of hers who will also Southwest Tech. Before she started applying to college, she had no clue how she was going to pay for it. She wasn’t even thinking about college at that point, let alone having savings for it. Unfortunately, this is the case for most students.

Teenagers have a tendency to put things off until the last minute, and for college, it’s a major downfall. However, there are ways you can get out of this rut. First of all, If you are not a senior yet, there is still a chance to save money. A very helpful way of saving money as a teen is putting half of your earnings into a savings account and not spending a cent of it. I personally have done this starting senior year, and have already accumulated four hundred and fifty dollars. Other saving tips like these can be very effective in getting a little extra money for college. Even an extra hundred dollars can pay for a new text book or your next week's meals. Mariah’s main source of income for college, and most other seniors’ for that matter, is going to be loans and grants. She hasn’t gotten any yet, but has been working on them since she was accepted to Southwest Tech. She has also filled out her FAFSA.

The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that gives you loans and grants for college. Mariah is currently working on scholarships by bookmarking them, then working on them later. When she completes them, all she has to do is remove the bookmark on them. She gets most of her scholarships from her counselor or through a website that has lists of scholarships.  Mariah said “I don’t get worried about scholarships, and I don’t think other people should either. They give you a lot of time to do them and they aren't complicated.” She said that it’s hard for her to concentrate for long amounts of time on writing, but by taking breaks or only working on them for short periods, she is able to get them done. Mariah said “All you have to do is worry about deadlines, and when one passes, start working on the next one.  Sometimes you have to work on your own time, but it’s worth it. If you do the work, you at least have a chance for money.”

Jason Oyen is in a similar boat. His goal for the future is to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and study to become an architect. He explained that he wanted to study architecture because, “I like big buildings, the way that they can be so huge yet still be so stable.” He has already been accepted to Milwaukee and plans on living on campus in the dorms for the first year at least, then moving to an apartment close by with a few roommates. Jason has received some scholarships already, such as the Pell Grant and other loans from the FAFSA, as they are the main way most people pay for college. His school has offered him a few scholarships that he plans to take, but he hasn’t gotten around to filling them out yet. Jason's view on scholarships is that they give people the chance to go to college who wouldn’t otherwise get the chance. He has a little bit of savings for college but doesn’t plan on using any of it by applying for and receiving scholarships. He said, “Scholarships suck to write. The essays are really boring, but it's worth the time. It's better to do the work now and relax later on.”

Jason works on his scholarships during power hour and at his house. He usually works on them half an hour at a time and stops when he gets bored. He decides which scholarships to apply for based on whether he thinks he has a good chance to win them. He says that as long as you apply for scholarships and work while in college, you will be able to get through college without much debt and get a full education. Jason hopes to get out of college with no debt solely because of money from scholarships.

Even though college is very highly priced, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a chance you can get through it without being in debt for the rest of your life. Whether you have a large amount of money saved or not, there is almost always a way to eliminate the future debt if you are smart with your time. By keeping track of deadlines to college and scholarships, and keeping up on your high school work, anyone can get the money for college and get a great education with it.