Paul Watson, Campus Carrier News Editor
With total student debt soaring past total credit card debt, students all across the country are starting to feel the weight of getting a full education.
According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, national credit card debt was $848 billion in 2012, while student debt in 2012 was over $1 trillion. This averages out to about $33,000 a student.
However, the average debt of the Berry class of 2012 is well below that average at $18,900. Director of Financial Aid Marcia McConnell said Berry is dedicated to helping students maintain as little debt as possible.
“Berry College is committed to assisting students with the funding of their college education by our investment in their financial aid awards,” McConnell said. “Berry is able through scholarships and the student work program to help students keep their borrowing below the national average.”
According to a letter from the President’s Office, Berry’s tuition will increase by about five percent, but donations have increased as well. McConnell said giving has been on a steady growth rate, even during the recession.
“Annual giving has maintained a steady growth of between three percent to seven percent per year,” McConnell said. “Total giving, which includes those extraordinary gifts that don’t necessarily happen every year, has averaged an eight percent increase during the last five years. Approximately 47 percent of all gifts during the last five years have been designated to support financial aid.”
McConnell said Berry has sustained a high level of financial aid in comparison to the tuition in the past few years.
“Over the last five years, tuition at Berry College has increased by 27 percent,” McConnell said, “and financial aid awarded to students has increased by 53 percent to just over $50 million.”
This pattern of increasing financial aid by a greater percent than the tuition increase is not uncommon at private institutions, however. According to CNN, tuition increased about four percent for the 2012-2013 school year, but financial aid increased by about seven percent.
But even a small tuition increase can have major effects on families with students in college. According to the Pew Research Center, an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world, a record one in five households have student loans.
Berry has some unique ways of trying to help its students with this debt. One of them is the Gate of Opportunity scholarship.
According to Berry’s website, “Gate of Opportunity is a mission-focused program in which each four-year scholarship represents a partnership among a student and his or her family, a donor and Berry College, with each partner contributing about a third of the cost of the student’s education.”
The student portion of the funding generally comes from the Student Work Program. Most, if not all, of a Gate scholar’s paycheck goes toward the scholarship.
Senior Darren Barnet, a Gate scholar, said the scholarship was vital to his education.
“It’s the only reason I’ve gotten through college,” Barnet said. “It’s taught me the value of working. Since we get very small paychecks, it hasn’t been about the money, it’s about doing a good job.”
McConnell said the idea of putting money from student work towards paying off debts should not just be for Gate scholars.
“All students regardless of their financial need are given the opportunity to work on campus,” McConnell said. “This is not a common practice at most colleges. Students should take advantage of this opportunity to reduce the amount of loan funds they borrow.”
Even with student work and other Berry efforts, students like Junior Meghan O’Brien said they will still feel the effects of student debt after college.
“My paychecks will have to go towards student loans, then other necessities,” O’Brien said. “It sucks.”