Careers in teaching and social work do not pay the bills for a majority of college graduates with large college loans.
And a local public interest groups wants to change that.
NHPR Correspondent Roger Wood reports.
A new report, sponsored by the National Public Interest Research Group, finds that 54 per cent of all four year college grads have too much debt to manage.
The result, says NHPIRG’s Erica Staaf, is that many grads can’t embark on critically important public service careers like teaching and social work.
(Staaf) :17
“Recent graduates, particularly those with low to moderate incomes dedicate most of their salary to cover basic costs like rent, food and health care. For graduates with low salaries but high student debt, repaying loans can be burdensome and even unmanageable.â€
One of those students at the University of New Hampshire is Sophomore Silas Archambeault, who will graduate with some $20 thousand dollars in debt.
(Archambeault) :14
“It seems to me that we’re setting ourselves up for disaster. No teachers to teach students, no students can be become teachers. No teachers, no students no future. Here at UNH, tuition goes up at about 6 per cent every year.â€
For its part, the University says that it is launching, this fall, a new initiative to help those most in need of funding for education.
Matthew Cookson is the University's Vice Chancellor.
(Cookson) : 18
“If students are fully Pell-eligible, which is really the lowest of low-income, we are providing a grant, not a loan, a grant to make up the difference between the financial aid package that they’d get and the actual cost, so it’s $4,000 to $4500 depending on the institution.â€
But Cookson concedes that the new program can cover only entering Freshmen New Hampshire residents,
And he says there will be some cost-shifting to other students, including out-of state attendees.
NHPIRG’s Erica Staaf, says that the activist group is pushing for need-based aid on the state and Federal level.
And Staaf says that predatory lenders in the private sectors should be punished for gouging graduates who have to take out more loans to cover their education.
For NHPR News, this is Roger Wood
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