College students drown in debt
Her son sits cross-legged in front of the TV. She gracefully walks the room putting away his toys and tidying up. Just above where her son sits is her diploma in a glass wooden frame.
By the time she is done paying off her student loans, one son will be 12 and the other 10; she and her husband will finally be able to begin saving for their children’s college educations.
“They make it very convenient for you while you’re in school to qualify for loans, to get the money; it’s when you’re in repayment, that’s the hard part,” said Adrianne Lord, 24, who graduated CSUN in 2010. (read more)
Making ends meet as a college student
Students’ wallets, bank accounts and trust funds have felt the tightening grip of tuition costs. Many are scrambling to make ends meet after a 22 percent tuition increase raised CSU’s price tag for the Fall semester. At CSUN, undergraduate students pay $6,488 per year, while graduates pay $7,754.
SolRuby Mendoza, 23, has felt the burden of rising tuition costs.
Extra money could have gone to pay for bills and cover the items she needs for school, like textbooks and gas money, Mendoza said. (read more)
Students struggle to control unnecessary spending
Senior Frankie Palacios could never afford to waste her money. Without support from her family, she spent the last five years as a full time college student with a full time job, and the responsibility to pay for the roof over her head.
She decided to enroll at CSUN for the unique queer studies program, although there were other universities located at a more convenient distance, adding the cost of commuting on top of groceries, insurance and everyday expenses.
Balancing classes, a nine-to-five job and maintaining a social life while balancing a check book is a skill she has been forced to learn in order to survive. (read more)
Job opportunities develop in other countries
Many students spend their four years in college dreading graduation — not that they’ll miss final exams, late-night study sessions or expensive textbooks. No, this fear stems from the idea of moving on to the real world and being unable to find a job in today’s struggling economy.
But for many international students, like Chinese native Hongkui Zhan, the notion of finding a job in their native lands has always been a certainty. (read more)
