Lillian Huebner came to the University of Oregon from Missouri to pursue an education in the Robert D. Clark Honors College.
But that dream didn’t last longer than a year. Huebner paid for school without assistance. After three terms at UO, the money ran out.
“I very much grew up in a family that it’s expected that once you turn 18, you’re on your own,” Huebner said. “I graduated high school, I got into college, I left — now all of this is my problem.”
Instead of continuing into sophomore year, Huebner moved out of the residence halls and into a friend’s house. For a while, Huebner slept on the floor on a makeshift pile of pillows and couch cushions that served as a bed.
Huebner now works at Safeway and is trying to gain enough money to pay off academic debt and re-enroll at UO.
Huebner is not alone in struggling to get an education. In 2014, half of UO’s graduating class had debt of their own.
Their average debt: $24,508.
It will only go up from here. Next year, tuition and fees will rise 3.8 percent for Oregon residents and 3.7 percent for nonresident students — up to $10,288.50 for residents and $32,023.50 for nonresidents.
UO sophomores Elle Sullivan and Zach Wright also work hard to pay for their education.
Originally from Carmel, Indiana, Sullivan came to the UO for the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest. Last year, she was enrolled in the UO as a Clark Honors College student majoring in journalism and marine biology. Sullivan’s passion for marine biology and nature grew as she explored Oregon’s forests, rivers and coastline, and she decided to work toward Oregon residency.
Sullivan pays for her living expenses and tuition with minimal help from her parents, and struggles to make ends meet throughout the process of obtaining residency, working three jobs and taking classes at the UO and Lane Community College.
Wright works at Carson dining hall about 15 hours a week and is taking a slightly lighter course load of 12 credits to accommodate his work schedule and commitment to extracurriculars like the UO a cappella group Mind the Gap.
Wright is a first-generation college student relying on student loans and scholarships to make ends meet. The hardest part of paying for school for Wright is the impending debt that will follow his education.
“It all will come crashing down if I don’t succeed and that’s stressful,” Wright said. “But at the same time I know that if I stress out about it I’m going to do worse than if I keep on going.”
To read more about Sullivan, Wright and Huebner and see the real-life cost of student loans, check out our latest E1 project here.
