Student Debt Today

Not only to current college students have to deal with finding a job in the crashed economy but also, student bear the burden of paying of student debt.

The Seattle Times recently featured a piece revealing the financial stress among students and lenders in these tough economic times. According to the article, while a large number of student loan lenders have completely stopped handing out loans, the firms that continue to distribute loans have become highly selective in picking students, according to Sally Mae, one of the nations largest student loan lender. Even the federally backed loans are becoming harder to get in this economy.

Both student's and the jobs of lenders are feeling the pressure in this economy, hopefully a new bailout plan will promote lenders enough to once again support students in pursing their education.

If you too are feeling the burden of paying off student loans visit this website which features helpful tips.

Colleges Are Supposed to Help Students Right?

It is no secret that with the growing financial woes of the nation, college students are taking a huge hit with debt and student loans. If you have been to a college sporting event recently, you may have noticed a bank or credit card company offering free merchandise at a table or tent. The merchandise is usually a t-shirt or mug with your favorite team's logo on it. As we all know, nothing comes for free though. These marketing ploys are trying to get students to sign up for credit cards.
Obviously credit card debt is the last thing a college student needs on top of loans. You may find it an evil ploy of credit card companies, but hold on. Maybe there is more than one source of this injustice. As it turns out many universities hold contracts with these credit card companies. In most cases, the more students that sign up for a credit card, the more money the university receives. In some cases, the school receives more money if the student carries a balance on these cards. So not only do schools allow these credit card companies permission to advertise on campus, but schools themselves often push students to get credit cards as well. I thought universities were supposed to educate their students, not double cross them. But I guess we can't forget, it's not personal, it's just business.
Be warned next time you are at a college sporting event and see advertising for free merchandise. Remember that nothing is free, especially in this economy.


Kenny Curry

One of the Lucky Ones

As of right now I am one of the lucky few students who seems to be out of debt. My parents have been paying for my college tuition thus far, although with the recent stock market plunge, I am not sure what the future will hold. I am planning on continuing to apply for scholarships and hope that the economy can right itself before I am out there looking for a job.

If I do end up acquiring some debt before I finish my schooling, I would not at all be surprised. My parents have been saving money since I was born, and I am receiving a small portion of academic scholarship from the school, but Santa Clara still costs $45,000 a year. I am trying to work a little bit when I can in order to pay for my own basic things outside of school, like laundry, food, social activities. I don't have a car at school and probably won't bring one down next year either to save money on gas and insurance.

Also If i end up getting debt, I would probably be screwed, because I have no idea what I want to do, but as of now I'm very involved in journalism and there is no money there. I was really good at math and science in high school, I might have made a mistake!

Here's an article from USA Today about college students in debt.

*'Students suffocate under tens of thousands in loans'

Profiles In Debt

Name: Ben Williams

Major: Accounting and Finance

Year: 2011

Debt: $35,000


Deep Thoughts on Debt: "I owe my mom like $500. I have it, I just haven't paid her yet. But the rest of my debt is student loans. I want to go to graduate school at some point, but after graduation I want to get a job and pay my debt off before I do so. I am a R.A. on campus to help reduce the damage and next quarter I am looking to get another job on campus."

Kenny Curry

Profiles in Debt

Name: Kevin Rowe

Major: Computer Engineering

Year: 2011

Hometown: Sacramento, CA

Estimated Debt at Graduation: $15,000

Deep Thoughts on Debt: " Due to my debt that I will leave school with, I feel like I am going to be emotionally stressed because I will be worried about my future. I feel like I need to work harder now so that I can get a good job and put these years behind me and enjoy my professional life. I just feel bad for the family I will have if I still have this debt after I graduate."

Life After College: Jobless and in Debt

As a Junior English major attending Santa Clara University where the tutition tops $45,000 each year, thinking about life after college can be pretty scary. Finding a job in a tight economy where no one is hiring, just keeps the large amount of debt that I am already in keep piling up. On top of it all, figuring out what I job I want to do, let alone the realities of actually being able to get that job is overwhelming. The nice thing about this internet age is that there are websites out there to help give job ideas for English majors. With the current state of the economy, it might be more worthwhile to volunteer for a couple years, or go on to grad school so that I will be even more qualified for jobs when they do become available in a couple years. At Santa Clara University, there are many seminars and guest speakers invited by the Career Center to help gradutating seniors figure out their best option. Colleges everywhere are doing similar things to help ease the fears of seniors in finding jobs. The resources are out there to help, we just need to take advantage of them and think outside the box. The first focus should be on finding a job, then take care of the debt later. It also helps to plan ahead. Start looking now so that you are desperately rushed in a year or so when you realize that graduation is a few weeks away and you have no idea what you are going to do.

So whether I decide to volunteer for the Peace Corp. until the economy gets better or further my education until the economy gets a little better and jobs open up, now is the time to figure that out. I think my best option now in the current economic state is to find gossip on celebrities and become the next Perez Hilton.

My Deep Thoughts on Debt

I am very grateful to have parents who support me in whatever I choose to do. They are paying for my tuition at Santa Clara University, as well as my brother's at the University of Oregon. I babysit a few times a week and make good spending money, but my parents are paying for pretty much everything. I know that after graduation I will do what I can to pay them back for the loans they have taken out.

Debt is a word I try not to use. I have an internship with Target this summer and I hope to work there after graduation. I am lucky to have a job lined up while many are suffering in these tough economic times. I didn't realize that going to a private university would cost my parents so much. After freshman year, I moved off campus to save some money. I have a slight problem with saving money, so I'm trying to work on that. I had to open a savings account and I force myself to put in $10 a week, its all about making little changes.

Right now I don't feel too worried about the future, but after reading this article about other college students and recent grads, I'm a little nervous about paying off the loans. I was planning on moving back to San Francisco to live in an apartment, but we'll see if my budget allows me to do that.

Profiles in Debt

Name: Bridget Flanagan

Major: Business

Year: 2011

Debt: $80,000

Deep Thoughts on Debt: "I haven't even thought about it. My dad kind of handles that. I feel like its going to take a long time to pay off, though. After college, I am going to open my own business, like a chain of boutiques. But that will be hard too - I need to find money for that! I'm pretty set with what I want to do and I'm not going to let anything stop me."

Profiles in Debt

Name: George Padilla

Major: Communication

Year: 2009

Debt: $25,000

Deep Thoughts on Debt: "I am not nervous I have been in financial difficulty before and worked it out. These are lower interest rates that ecru interest slower than a credit card or something. Working in the future will take care of it. It doesn't keep me up at night."

Buried in Debt

Debt is awful, but I feel like everyone in college has it. Honestly though right now as a junior in college I'm not too worried about it. Most of my personal debt worries are about my credit card. it's far to easy to slide the card when I have to cash to back it up.

I'm operating under the assumption that my parents will handle my college debt which I think they will. My dad didn't go to college and my mom's parents paid for hers so they don't want me to graduate college with the burden of debt on my shoulders. I have taken out students loans at a low interest so those will have to be paid back eventually, but in this economy right now it's going to be hard to set away money to pay for loans. I guess I'm pretty lucky that my parents have offered to pay for it all because I know a few people who just graduated from Santa Clara and are buried in debt.

I think the government should help us pay for college and more than in the form of scholarships and grants. In a perfect world everyone who gets into college would get a check to help them pay for the cost of tuiton, books, housing, and all the other expenses that are part of the college experience. One of my housemates was raised in Sweden and the government there helps all their students pay for college expenses. For instance my housemates uses that money to pay for her rent. Granted, Sweden is much smaller than the U.S., but I think it could work here. I guess it's a little hopeless in this economy right?

kaitlin novell

Profiles in Debt

Name: Nick Satterfield
Major: Civil Engineering
Year: Freshman
Debt: 2,000 a year
Deep Thoughts on Debt: "I have a student loan for 2,000 a year and it is going to come out to between 8,000 and 10,000 by the time I graduate it. It's not that bad but I don't really think it is worth it compared to how much it costs. To me, it makes more sense to just pay it now but my mom wants me to have it the way it is. My mom is trying to push me a little bit so that I pay for some of school. I also have financial aid which helps. I'm under the impression that it is guaranteed. Hopefully that's true; I don't know."

Profiles in Debt

Name: Cary Chein

Year: 2010

Major: Law Student

Debt: $40,000 in student loans

Deep Thoughts on Debt: Chein plans to pay off his debt by scoring a job in a law firm in patent law post graduation. Despite his plans, he is a little concerned about finding a job in law student in this economy.

Profiles in Debt

Name: Lauren Tokheim

Major: Accounting

Year: 2011

Debt: "I don't know, I have my parents' credit card so I owe them"

Deep Thoughts on Debt: "I'm in debt with my parents. I owe them for everything I've borrowed, which is all spending money. I have to pay them back for my sorority dues, but I don't owe them for tuition and books. I plan on setting money aside from my paychecks. After graduation I want to work for an accounting firm in a big city, but I don't know where yet."

Profiles in Debt

Name: Morgan Doherty

Major: Communication

Year of Grad: 2011

Estimated Debt: $30,000

Deep Thoughts on Debt: "It's going to be hard for me to pay it all back especially because of the way the economy will be after I graduate."

Profiles in Debt

Name: Sol Tran

Major: Finance

Year: 2011

Debt: $0

Deep Thoughts on Debt: "My parents luckily pay for my tuition. I spent $600 yesterday and I only had $600 in the bank. So right now I am at $0. I hope to get a paycheck soon. But you got to spend the money."

Profiles in Debt

Name: Lauren Anselmo

Major: Communication

Year of Grad: 2011

Estimated Debt: "My grandparents pay for my college so I am not in debt"

Deep Thoughts on Debt: "If I was in debt, I don't know how I would pay in because I play a sport and don't have time to get a job"

Profiles in Debt

Name: Joanna Savio

Major: Anthropolgy, Sociology

Year: 2010

Debt: "Right now I owe myself like $500"

Deep Thoughts on Debt: "I'm pretty much in debt to myself. I plan on taking a year off after school to work at a museum back in Hawaii. I'll get a SCUBA license and pay off my loans with that, so I'm a little worried but I know I can pay it off."

Profiles in Debt

Name: Holly Griggs
Major: Communication; Political Science minor
Year: 2010
Debt: $0
Deep Thought on Debt: "I've been raised to absolutely hate debt. Upon entering college, I was fortunate enough to have pulled off several academic scholarships, and what they didn't cover, my parents chose to pay off the rest. As long as my scholarships continue, I shall leave college debt free, which is an extremely great feeling."

Life as CriagsList Jobs' Biggest Fan

Well, I know the excitement of a new quarter has been squandered when I resign from taking detailed notes to blogging in class on my laptop. Oh well... last quarter.

So, instead of focusing on the professor's lecture on DNA, RNA and other scientific letter things, I'm surfing Craigslist looking for jobs.

Now, I've designed a very thorough method for CL job searching.

Step 1: Select city.
Step 2: Select job category.
Step 3: Peruse jobs.

My relationship with CL has developed overtime. It began 6 months ago when I was excited and confident about the prospect of finding a job.

July 2008 CL Search

Step 1: Cities
SF Bay Area
New York City

Step 2: Select categories
Marketing/PR
Writing

Step 3: Peruse jobs
Only cool ones
-
Now, my job search as of today's Biology class:

Step 1: Select cities
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Houston
Los Angeles
New York
Orange County
Sacramento
San Diego
Seattle
SF Bay Area
Washington D.C

Step 2: Job categories
Admin/Office
Human Resources
Legal/Paralegal
Marketing/PR

Step 3: Peruse job
Look at all that I could minimally qualify for.

Coast Swapping at SCU

I recently conducted an interview with an east coast transplant at Santa Clara, Ben Seidenstein. Ben hails from Greenwich in Connecticut, near New York City. Ben explained that he chose SCU for the small class sizes as well as the prestige the university has attained throughout the state of California. These reasons were important for me also, in choosing SCU for college. As a student from out of state myself, I wondered whether or not Ben shared some of my views and opinions about moving to and living in the Golden State. When I asked him about what he misses most about leaving home, Ben explained that among other things, hanging out with his high school friends and having his own car topped the list. I can attest that I really wish I had a car here as well and it is kind of tough not seeing your old buddies. Ben also mentioned missing his trips and weekends in New York City and Long Island Sound. While a student at SCU, Ben has travelled to San Francisco on multiple occasions as well as parts of Southern California and Arizona. Ben mentioned his desire to explore more of the Bay Area and California and hopes to do more of this throughout the next three years at Santa Clara. When I asked Ben about his favorite part of living on the West Coast, he told me that the weather and the laid back atmosphere was it. I asked Ben what the hardest part adjusting to California culture was for him. Aside from missing parts about home and having to put up with the word “hella,” Ben said that communicating with his friends and parents on the East Coast through the time difference has been the hardest part about living in CA. On his favorite parts about living in Santa Clara, Ben said that he really enjoys visiting Santa Cruz as well as watching the great division one sports Santa Clara offers like baseball and basketball. Ben plans to travel during the summer and is anticipating a great sophomore year when he returns.
-Collier King