GLASGOW —
During the 2010-11 school year, Kentucky students borrowed a record $1.2 billion for higher education, and the average student will spend a decade paying approximately $200 per month in order to pay off their loans, according to a Businessweek news release.
The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) presented its data at a recent Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) meeting, and the data indicated college students in the state currently owe an average of more than $19,000 each, and student debt is growing at a rate four times greater than the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“One problem is that today’s students have stopped working and are taking out more loans to pay for school,” said Whitney Hall, financial aid counselor for Western Kentucky University’s regional campuses. “They now are using student loans to pay for living expenses. When I was in school a lot of people worked to put themselves through college. That’s not the case anymore.”
Hall said one way to prevent such debt is to meet with an adviser and only accept loans to cover the cost of tuition and books.
“Now it’s gone towards people taking out loans instead of working and going to school,” Hall said.
Ted Franzeim, senior vice president for KHEAA, said in the release that student debt is a growing issue — an issue that doesn’t have an end in sight.
For the full story, read Friday's print or e-Edition of the Glasgow Daily Times.
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