North Dakota University System survey to focus on student debt
By Anna Burleson, Grand Forks Herald | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Interim Chancellor
"This is a national crisis," he said. "Student loan debt right now has surpassed credit card debt in
The assumption now is that loans are used on tuition fees, room and board, but the survey looks at a wider variety of expenses, such as transportation and the cost of health insurance, said
"Basically, what we're doing is getting preliminary data from students to see if the current assumptions about student debt are correct," she said.
Despite the lower than average cost of tuition in
The project didn't have enough data from
Rising cost
It's no secret the cost of higher education continues to increase in
Since the 2003-2004 school year, the annual cost to attend
In the same time-frame, the cost of other NDUS four-year universities increased 56.6 percent to
Inflation was about 25 percent in the Midwest during that period.
"I don't think we can draw conclusions without having all the facts, so I'm just not going to make the assumption that student debt is tied directly to the cost of education," Skogen said. "Obviously it is in some way, but how big of a player is it?"
Skogen said he hoped the survey would show whether the increases in tuition correlates with a similar increase in student debt over the years.
UND has said it plans to raise tuition 3.7 percent for the 2014-2015 school year and NDSU plans a 4.2 percent increase. On average, NDUS institutions expect to raise tuition 3.2 percent, except for
The affordability report says that tuition and fees account for 40 percent of the cost for UND and NDSU students in 2013-2014. That compares to 39 percent in 2009-2010, according to data from the earliest report available. For two-year colleges, those figures were 31 percent and 29 percent respectively. The remaining costs are assumed to be room and board, books and other costs.
"I'm really anxious to see what students tell me what they think the problem is," Skogen said. "Maybe we can come up with something that moves us forward."
Debt gets deeper
Average student debt at four-year universities in
Below is average debt based on year of graduation. The numbers have not been adjusted for inflation:
-- 2005:
-- 2006:
-- 2007:
-- 2008:
-- 2009:
-- 2010:
-- 2011:
-- 2012:
On the Web: UND provides services such as a net cost calculator, financial counseling and hundreds of scholarships. To see the links, go to GrandForksHerald.com.
More info: UND offers a variety of financial services for students online:
-- Net cost calculator: bit.ly/1hE6TMA
-- Personal budget manager: bit.ly/PVcjwX
-- Student employment options: bit.ly/1gcv4SM
-- Scholarships: bit.ly/1iB8dlE
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