Student Debt and the Class of 2013 Report
By Bridget Creel
The November 2014 report released by the Institute for College Access and Success said that students who took out loans to attend college graduated in 2013 with an average debt of $28,400. Based on the report, the debt of students in the Northeast and the Midwest was significantly higher than the debt of students going to school in the West and the South.
Private universities, such as Elon University in North Carolina, that do not grant full scholarships work to keep the tuition at a lower cost, however there are students that cannot attend the university due to the cost.
“The average debt for Elon graduates graduating in 2013 was just over $28,000 and we see about 44 percent of our students graduating with student loans,” said Lisa Keegan, the dean of admissions at Elon University.
Keegan uses data to compare the different geographic markets in order to work with the board of trustees to keep the tuition as low as possible.
Infographic by Bridget Creel.
“On average, we’re about $10,000 less than other private schools,” said Keegan. “We look at that data and break that down by geographic markets as well from where Elon students are coming from.”
Keegan has found that compared to private universities in the Northeast, Elon’s price differs by about $15,000.
“Elon’s financial model is really sound,” said Keegan. “We’ve been able to grow and provide lots of new opportunities because we have such a sound financial model. It’s unique in the higher education market place in that we don’t meet full need. We don’t scholarship students at the same level that lots of other schools do. To compensate for that, we try to keep our overall cost low.”
“I’m quite nervous about my loans,” said Elon Senior Corbin McConnell. “However, it’s better just to learn to know they are coming rather than worry. I invested in my future and that’s the most important part.”
Keegan explained that the conversations with prospective students and parents always get to be difficult and there are cases when students cannot come to Elon due to financial implications. The cost of any university is just as important as considering the value of the experience. There must be early conversations about whether or not the tuition is realistic for the whole course of the four years, she said.
Alex Ward
“As tuition increases, student loans increase and that is a huge problem for the national debt,” said Alex Ward, a graduate of Elon’s class of 2014. “There is no guarantee that the loans will get paid back.”
Regardless of the cost of the public or private nonprofit college, 70 percent of students in 2013 used student loans to help pay for their education.
Although Elon cannot give a lot of money to incoming students, Elon has increased the amount of scholarships over the years. According to Keegan, by the year 2020, the plan is to triple the need-based financial aid.
For more information on the state by state data of student debt, check out the interactive map.
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