By Elli Bloomberg
Education Not Debt Coalition, Student-Worker Alliance
On Jan 2 of this year, American University’s media relations department released a statement entitled, “AU Bucks National Student Debt Trend.” Citing statistics from the university’s financial aid office, the statement’s author concludes that because “only four in 10 students graduate with loans and the average debt for AU’s Class of 2012 declined 8 percent from the previous year,” AU is a trailblazer in making college more affordable. Rejoice, silly activists: the student debt crisis is over.
But is it, really? Even ignoring the fact that a few of the statement’s statistics can be contested—some estimate that around 60% of AU’s student body graduates with debt, not 40%--this self-congratulatory press release does not reflect the reality experienced by many students here.
For example, the author claims that “AU has worked to improve financial literacy among its students, prospective students, and their families by facilitating access to U.S. Department of Education tools that help those considering private loans estimate their monthly post-graduate loan payments before they add to their total debt.” While the infamous AU Central may indeed point applicants to the Department of Education’s website, it also deceives students by offering them inflated financial aid packages when they enter as freshmen, only to decrease the amount over the next four years. If prospective students are not given accurate information about their financial aid, how can they truly make informed decisions about the amount of money they need to borrow? AU’s statement does not address this, choosing instead to paint the financial aid office as a benevolent institution that hands out “Kerwin Money” like those complimentary mints at restaurants.
This specific complaint, while vitally important, passes over the most fundamental problem with AU’s statement: by congratulating itself on supposedly decreasing the amount of money owed by its students, the university is saying that any amount of debt is acceptable. This is not true. By forcing people to take out loans, AU is contributing to a growing national student debt crisis. The total student debt now stands at over $1 trillion—more than the national credit card debt. And behind this statistic are thousands of real people—students who entered college with dreams of a great education and a bright future, only to leave with the nightmare of having to scrimp, save, and starve because a large portion of their entry-level paycheck is going back to the school, the banks, and the federal government.
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Education Not Debt Coalition, Student-Worker Alliance
On Jan 2 of this year, American University’s media relations department released a statement entitled, “AU Bucks National Student Debt Trend.” Citing statistics from the university’s financial aid office, the statement’s author concludes that because “only four in 10 students graduate with loans and the average debt for AU’s Class of 2012 declined 8 percent from the previous year,” AU is a trailblazer in making college more affordable. Rejoice, silly activists: the student debt crisis is over.
But is it, really? Even ignoring the fact that a few of the statement’s statistics can be contested—some estimate that around 60% of AU’s student body graduates with debt, not 40%--this self-congratulatory press release does not reflect the reality experienced by many students here.
For example, the author claims that “AU has worked to improve financial literacy among its students, prospective students, and their families by facilitating access to U.S. Department of Education tools that help those considering private loans estimate their monthly post-graduate loan payments before they add to their total debt.” While the infamous AU Central may indeed point applicants to the Department of Education’s website, it also deceives students by offering them inflated financial aid packages when they enter as freshmen, only to decrease the amount over the next four years. If prospective students are not given accurate information about their financial aid, how can they truly make informed decisions about the amount of money they need to borrow? AU’s statement does not address this, choosing instead to paint the financial aid office as a benevolent institution that hands out “Kerwin Money” like those complimentary mints at restaurants.
This specific complaint, while vitally important, passes over the most fundamental problem with AU’s statement: by congratulating itself on supposedly decreasing the amount of money owed by its students, the university is saying that any amount of debt is acceptable. This is not true. By forcing people to take out loans, AU is contributing to a growing national student debt crisis. The total student debt now stands at over $1 trillion—more than the national credit card debt. And behind this statistic are thousands of real people—students who entered college with dreams of a great education and a bright future, only to leave with the nightmare of having to scrimp, save, and starve because a large portion of their entry-level paycheck is going back to the school, the banks, and the federal government.
Read more...