college students/graduates worry about paying off debt
SAGINAW COUNTY -- Web-based college financial aid source FinAid clocks the nation’s student loan debt level at more than $888 billion dollars as of this month. It’s that sky high figure that has many financial experts and analysts calling it the country’s next major financial crisis.
More and more recent college graduates are finding themselves tens of thousands of dollars in debt and unable to find jobs in their field to make those debt payments, let alone meet other costs of livings.
MSN financial writer Liz Pulliam Weston wrote an article documenting e-mails she receives from graduates in $30,000-$40,000 if not more in debt from student loans and are unable to find work.
Some students resort to credit cards to pay what they can, while others take on two or more jobs to pay the bills, but still find themselves coming up short.
One study reports the cost of tuition for a private four-year university was $25,143 in 2008, and jumped 5.9 % from the year before. By comparison the cost of classes at a public four year school was $6,585 that same year; an increase of 6.4 % in 2007.
NBC25 will introduce you to college students at Saginaw Valley State University who aren’t sure they will have jobs after they graduate that will allow them to pay back their debt. We’ll also show you what SVSU is doing to help students borrow loans responsibility, and better manage the costs of higher education.