This past summer, Hawaii native Jacquelin Presbaugh@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Jacquelin+Presbaugh@@ had a very difficult decision to make — change her major or claim residency in Oregon by decreasing her full-time class credit load to part-time, find a part-time job, and spend the entire Christmas break in Eugene.
She chose the latter.
“It definitely does bother me because I’m going to be here all alone,” Presbaugh said.
After her stepfather was discharged from the military nearly four years ago, Presbaugh said money in her household was stretched thin. After not being able to get enough financial aid to afford the University’s high nonresident cost of attendance, she said she knew she had to make sacrifices of her own.
“I just have to suck it up because I have to do it,” Presbaugh said. “In the end, it would benefit me more than to stay here as an out-of-state student and carry so many loans.”
Presbaugh is not alone. At a time when there is nearly $1 trillion in national student debt@@http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/student-debt-hint-avoid-it/2011/11/29/gIQAApyv9N_story.html@@ and tuition rates continue to rise, students are looking for ways to cut costs and avoid taking out too many student loans. And although there are many ways for students to approach this issue, some researchers say that engaging in these types of cost-saving behaviors — either out of necessity or by choice — may be counterproductive and actually inhibit students from obtaining a college degree.
According to research conducted by Excelencia in Education@@http://edexcelencia.org/@@ and The Institute for Higher Education Policy@@http://www.ihep.org/@@ in 2008 that analyzed data collected by the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study@@http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/@@, students who exhibit a variety of factors — such as choosing to only take on part-time credit hours, attend a less selective institution and leave school with the intent of coming back — are less likely to graduate from college compared to counterparts who take on a reasonable amount of loans to supplement their full-time student tuition.
Although taking an excessive amount of student loans with high interest rates can certainly put students in a quagmire, experts say taking on a reasonable amount of student loans is a more advisable option than taking on too many responsibilities. In fact, research conducted by Excelencia in Education found that nearly 86 percent of students who take out some financial aid are able to attend college full-time, compared to nearly 70 percent of students who choose not to borrow.@@http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/11/28/The-Hidden-Risks-of-Dodging-Student-Loan-Debt.aspx#page1@@
Beyond the danger of not completing college and obtaining a degree, studies have also found that some cost-cutting measures can have profound effects on a students academic performance. According to the American College Health Association’s 2010 National College Health Assessment for the University, 12 percent of students reported that work-related issues affected their individual performance over the past year.@@http://tinyurl.com/6mkl632@@
“When it comes to this issue, cost-cutting, they are making hard decisions about their lives and think that they can have it all — they can work, support their families and get an education for a better future,” Excelencia in Education’s Vice President for Policy and Research Deborah Santiago said@@http://www.edexcelencia.org/resources/people/edex-principal/santiago-deborah@@. “I think that the responsibility that we have … is if students have to cost-cut in order to get their reality to come true, we need to meet them halfway.”
Despite the call for change and awareness at a daunting time for students nationwide, Santiago said there are challenges as well and noted that there are talks on the federal policy level of decreasing programs that offer money that students do not have to pay back to their colleges, therefore eliminating the in-school subsidies for student loans.
“The fact that this is even on the table means that this is going to be a long haul conversation and challenge as well,” Santiago said. “I wish I could say that everybody was clear that the investment and education for our youth and their retention to completion was important, but we’re not backing it up with the policies and resources to make it a reality.”