AMHERST—Ariel Chin has had two jobs since her freshman year at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Now, as a junior, her jobs have slightly changed, but her priorities have not.
“I really needed the money to pay for my college education,” Chin, who works as a resident assistant and lab assistant, said. “My parents help me out but in the end, there’s still so much to pay for and it comes down on my shoulders and, of course, the loans.”
Chin is not the only one struggling with paying for college. According to the Project on Student Debt, the class of 2010 graduated with an average of $25,250 dollars in student loan debt. At UMass, the average student graduated with $25,944 in loan debt in 2011.
Chin says by the time she graduates in the spring of 2013, her debt will have accumulated to more than $20,000. Even with the money she has saved over the last three years, Chin says
she will still have a hard time paying off her debt because of her Economics major.
“I’m worried about finding a job after I graduate because many of the jobs require
experience that I am not fully qualified for,” Chin said. “There are lots of people with higher degrees and will compete for the same job. Most likely I wouldn't get the job because of the lack of experience in that particular field.”
That is why Chin says graduate school is a must. But first, a break is in order.
“When I graduate, I’m planning to take a year off and work. I need the money to pay for graduate school,” Chin said. “But with graduate school comes more loans and even more debt.”
According to UMass Financial Aid Services, 20,000 students received over $158 million in financial aid in 2011. The average financial aid package was about $10,000, which covers in-state tuition and part of room and board. However, UMass was only able to provide an average of 88 percent of the students with financial aid need.
Allison Mullin, a senior biology major at UMass, says she received a lot of financial aid her freshman year of college, but as each school year went by, less and less financial aid was offered to her.
“Each year, I’ve had to get more and more loans taken out. I chose UMass for college because good education was offered and it was a lot cheaper than other schools,” Mullin said. “But now, that’s not really the case anymore as the tuition rises.”
According to its website, UMass hiked up its in-state tuition by 15 percent from 2009 to 2010 and increased it again by 7.5 percent for 2010 to 2011. In 2010, UMass’ tuition rose 26 percent in comparison to four years ago.
Mullin is happy she gets to escape from the tuition hikes, but is also worried about her
future once she graduates.
“I’m a little bit concerned because having a bachelor’s degree in biology isn’t really that specific as far as skill sets and things like that,” Mullin said. “So it’ll be a little hard to get a job without any graduate school.”
Still, she does have a plan for her future.
“There’s always basic lab jobs and things like that. That’s what I’ll be gearing toward looking at,” she said.
Even if she does find a job, Mullin says she will be staying with her parents for a few years after graduation, just until she can get on her feet.
“I’ll use my income to pay off the loans because if I’m living with my parents I don’t really need to pay for anything else,” she said. “That way, I can get the loans out of the way and then when I’m done with that, I can move out and pay for all those living expenses.”
Emily Z., a junior at UMass, says her loans are worrisome, but she knows how to handle it.
“I started saving early on, when I was in high school, so I’m pretty prepared for what I have to pay for when I graduate,” Emily said. “Right now, I’m focused on academics and I’ll worry about my job and worry about paying off loans later.”
Emily says she’s proud of what she’s accomplished. Once she graduates, she’ll be able to live independently and plan a better future for herself.
“I think it’s important for people to know that students should start preparing early on,” Emily said. “There’s no need for a stressful time after graduation. That’s when you’re really starting to live life and there shouldn’t be anything holding you back.”
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