Rethinking the cost of a UW education

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Daniela Ferrell always wanted to be a Husky. She picked the University of Washington for its academic programs and reputation. Now a sophomore in the civil engineering program, Ferrell says she should have made her decision based on something else.

“I would have reexamined all the universities I considered and chosen the one I could leave with the lowest amount of debt,” says Ferrell. “UW is a great school, but I’m going to be paying for this for a long time.”

Students touring the UW might not be aware the in the United States the average student loan debt per borrower is $25,000. One in three loans is past due 30 days or more. LT photo

Ferrell relies on beauty pageant scholarships and a job to pay her $3,600 tuition per quarter. She recently fell behind on her payments. When she got the bill from an out- of-state collections agency, it didn’t help that they’d tacked on a $835 fee. The UW says the amount of the fee is determined by the collections company. The agency says the fee is “in the fine print.”

She couldn’t sign up for the next quarter of classes without paying the tuition and fee, so Ferrell had to dip into her dad’s medical savings fund to pay her college bill this quarter. She says she’s fortunate she had an option. Other students she knows have dropped out of school.

“I heard so many people, even teachers say, ‘You’re going to have so much fun in college, it’s nothing like high school.’ It’s worse than high school,” says Ferrell. “Not in terms of academics, but in being able to make ends meet.”

College today is “lots of Top Ramen.” Some things don’t change.

“I’m not going to lie, I’ve eaten my fair share of Top Ramen and macaroni and cheese. You start penny pinching and thinking do I need that coffee this morning to keep me alert for my classes. You start wearing sweatshirts and jeans, like I do and you don’t go shopping as much. You’re very conservative with your time and your money,” says Ferrell.

Student debt isn’t just a burden for those who will graduate soon and others in their 20s. It’s tough on parents who often co-sign student loans. Even with bankruptcy, student loan debt is never erased. And it’s difficult for those who go back to school with the hopes of changing their careers.

David Johnson is a 58-year-old groundskeeper from Milton who decided to leave gardening after more than two decades to become a nurse. He took out about $18,000 in private and federal loans to attend a local community college that had a nursing program. After completing prerequisite classes, he learned that the program had a waiting list.

“It’s an awkward place to be. I’m not yet a nurse but I’ve got all this debt and interest compounding on me. I don’t have a lot of working years left and I’m saddled with this debt,” he told The Wall Street Journal recently.

Too bad for them, but that’s their problem, right? Economists say student loan debt should be everyone’s concern.

College loan debt has surpassed $1 trillion, according to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That’s more than Americans owe on credit cards or car loans.

“When student loans don’t get repaid, debts are going to be transferred from the borrower to the taxpayer, further raising federal deficits,” says Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight. “Student-loan borrowers may fail to qualify for mortgages and stay much longer in their parents’ homes.” If they’re not buying their own homes, that slows the housing recovery.

Ferrell, who’s looking at another seven percent increase in the cost of UW tuition this fall, shrugs her shoulders and says, “It’s the price you pay for education these days.”

Compared with other colleges around the country, the UW is considered affordable. The university is ranked 10th among 100 public institutions that offer the best value in higher education, according to Kiplinger and the Princeton Review. It also considers the UW a “best value college.”

“I’m going to live in a very humble apartment for the first couple of years after I graduate, save up a bunch of money and then just pay it off because I don’t want to be 45-years-old and still paying student loans,” says Ferrell.

By LINDA THOMAS