Graduating college students will soon receive their diplomas, and for some, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Kelsey Comtois, a student at Western New England University, takes a look at the personal toll college debt is having on students.
The many milestones in life include earning a high school diploma, a college degree, getting married, buying that first house and having children. But for some, the cost of the college degree can stay with them through many of the other benchmarks in life. According to the American Student Assistance organizations' website, nearly 20 million Americans attend college each year, and more than half of that number borrow annually to help cover costs through government and bank loans. This means there’s a good chance you or someone you know is weighted down with student debt.
This affects me personally, as both my sister Samantha Comtois and I are paying off hefty college loans. Sam says it's ruining her financial life.
"I am $170,000 in debt. That’s.. a really nice house!"
With this college debt can come a serious personal toll on a student's physical and mental health. For Samantha, low income between work and school forced her to drop her graduate degree at Boston University, with only few credits remaining.
"I was tired of having the weight of the loans on my shoulders. I was working all the time, sometimes 60 hours a week Monday through Saturday and I wasn’t sleeping very well. I wasn’t eating very well. The more I avoided the numbers, the more I avoided the total, the more I avoided interest rates, the more I avoided my payback options the worse I felt."
Brendan Sullivan, a former student at Springfield Technical Community College, decided not to finish his degree in the pursuit of work, which allowed him to pay off his student debt sooner.
"I don’t have student loans. I have to kind of understand that there are some opportunities not open to me because I don’t have a degree. There's gonna be employers out there that at the bare minimum want to see that piece of paper on your resume."
Even with heavy loans to pay back, many students and alumni find a way to live comfortably and successfully. For Brendan, this was in gaining previous work experience to have the job he has today as a copier technician. He says the cost of a higher education just wasn't for him.
"I mean I’m very happy with where I am and the job I have. I have a company vehicle, I have good benefits, I have good pay. I can pay to take care of myself, put a different car on the road. These are open to me, and I didn’t have to finish school to make that happen. Where I am in the company I am, I have a lot of room to move up . I can make friends in the company I’m in and make connections, earn experience there. So if I do have a better job in future I can use that as opposed to college credits and experience."
For Samantha, her success comes in the courage her debt has given her to go after the paycheck she needs by obtaining her first raise.
"I marched into my boss's office and asked for a raise. Not because I thought I deserved one, not because I had been working there for the amount of time that would merit one but because I needed one to keep going. I asked for that raise because of the loans and it really just let me know that I can handle this. I can pay them back. I can make this work."
The largest chunk of Samantha’s debt also comes with positive experiences she gained while obtaining her undergrad degree. Today, she’s an office manager at a dental business in Northampton, Massachusetts.
"I’d never regret undergraduate school. I feel like the education I had prepared me for being a good employee. I learned writing skills, I learned organization skills, I learned math skills. I learned how to deal with people in a position of authority, I learned how to meet deadlines. I would not be who I am today without that education."
According to the American Student Assistance organization, of the 37 million borrowers of student loans, 14 percent struggle with at least one past due student loan account. Right now, as students and alumni, making it work, and paying it back, is the only thing we can do. Samantha shares this advice with those struggling to pay off student debt:
"Live the life they want to live. Get married, buy a house, have kids. I’m gonna do those things and I never thought I would, I never thought I would do those things but now here I am about to do it and I’m paying my loans and it’s all because I faced it and I think that’s what everybody should do."
She's facing heavy student debt, and similar to the mortgage payment on a house....she's paying them back one month at a time.