Debt to top $1 trillion

By Kelsey Caudill

UK students are suffering the woes of the economy as national student loan debt is projected to top $1 trillion in 2011 and Congress threatens to cut federal Pell Grants.

Lynda George, director of Student Financial Aid, said 47 percent of undergraduate students currently enrolled at UK have student loans, while only 28 percent are receiving need-based scholarships.

The first figure is representative of federal student loans, federal parent PLUS loans for dependent students and private educational loans borrowed on behalf of the student, George said.

Despite the negativity associated with an increase in student loans, George explained that student loan debt is what experts call “good” debt.

“Educational loans, especially federal student loans, offer a significant resource to help students attend college to pursue a degree,” George said in an email to the Kernel. “They should be viewed as an investment in students’ futures that has the potential to significantly increase students’ earnings over the course of their working lives.”

Aside from need-based financial aid, George said 67 percent of UK undergraduate students receive academic scholarships to curb education costs.

Family science senior Brandon Lawrence said student loans are “good and necessary debt.”

“I feel as though the increasing student loan debt is a reaction to the growing need to have an education so that one can make advancements in today’s competitive job market,” Lawrence said.

Pamela Burke, a journalism and German senior, said student loan debt is “inevitable” with the vast number of people going to college.

“Without student loans, a vast majority of students, myself included, cannot pay the bills to finish school,” Burke said. “I think it is important to keep student loans going to encourage students to get their degree.”

As a mother, Burke said student loans have become a vital part of finishing her degree.

Burke said she is confident she will be able to pay back her loans after graduation with the variety of payment options that are available.

“I think any debt is a stressful thing, but I know that there are payment plans,” Burke said. “With a job and a payment plan, I am confident it won’t be a problem to pay the loans back.”

While students agree that federal loans have helped them make it through college, they said cuts in the Pell Grant program will make student debt skyrocket.

“People like myself who receive these grants will have to accept more loans, whereas before I had the option to pass on loans that I did not need,” Lawrence said.

Burke said it is unfortunate that educational costs are climbing while the amount of financial help is decreasing.

“I think that educational funding is so important because college is what molds our generation to be the next professionals in the work force … the next doctors, lawyers, president even,” Burke said. “Everyone deserves the right to an education.”