News Scrapbook 1986-1988

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454)

APR lS

'When needy students are unable to get federal loans the schools lee/ a commitment to admit I • them anyway, even ii that involves helpmg them with their tuition'

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San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Magazine (Cir. M. 20,324)

:?,qS:< *toans Coolinued From Page 1 billion borrowed by 1.6 million stu- dents in 1975-76. Local universities say those fig- ures mirror conditions on campuses here. Although no national statistics are available on the percentage of stu- dents who take out education loans, Victoria Tripa of the U.S. Depart- ment of Education puts the figure at between 40 percent and 50 percent. Students who don't take out loans usually finance their education by working, relying on their families or both, says Herb Whyte, financial aid chief at the TlJliyec;ity o{ Sao Pi~- Between to percent and 75 percent of the students at San Diego State University and USO work full- or part-time, officials there say. The percentage is lower at UCSD: about 60 percent. "We don't know how many fami- lies have taken out loans to finance their children's college, either," Whyte adds. Tom Rutter, UCSD financial aid director, says sharply rising costs have forced more students to apply for loans. "Our total federal loans to approx- imately 3,000 students in 1985-86 was about $10.5 million, which is around 2¾ times what it was 10 years ago," he says. Whyte agrees with Rutter, adding that the number of student appli- cants bas increased greatly along with the number of loans. ''But when you compare today's figures with 10 years ago you have to recognize that the student body has grown greatly in that period," he says. "At USD, for example, our en- rollment in 1975-76 was 2,134. Now it's 4,500. So the loan amount rose proportionately" Kathie Mills, of DSU's financial aid office, says 8,100 D U students received loa totaling about $16.4 million in 19 5 ', which she esti- mates is double what it was 10 years a o. Paralleling the mcrease in indebt- edness has been the soaring cost of tuition in the nation's colleges and universities over the past decade. According to the American Coun- cil on Education, based in Washing- ton, D.C., the average yearly tuition charged by private institutions in the United States in 1986-87 was $6,150, compared with $2,467 in 1976-77. For public universities, current yearly tuition or fees (California doesn't charge tuition but does have fees), average $1,110, compared with $479 a decade ago. Among the most expensive univer- sities: Harvard, Yale and Stanford. At Harvard, !or example, the annual tuition is $11,390, compared with $3,740 in 1976-77. At Yale, current tuition is $11,340 up from $4,050 in 1976-77. Stanford charges the highest tuition among universities in California - $11,208, compared with $3,810 a decade ago. However, Jean Rosenblatt, the council's as.sociate director of public affairs, says that almost half the na- tion's private colleges charge less than $5,000 a year for tuition. "When people hear about Harvard, Yale, Stanford and other prestigious universities charging over $11,000 tu- ition a year, they have the miscon- ception that most schools charge that much," she says. "But they are very atypical. Of the 3,000 colleges and universities in this country, only 80 charge $10,000 or above a year in tui- tion."

Whyte says 96.4 percent of stu- dents who have taken out National Direct Student Loans through the university are repaying them. "We're very pleased with a default rate that has declined to 3.6 percent," he says. "At one time at USD, about 11 years ago, we had a default rate of 38 percent," Whyte adds. "The federal government at the time made loans readily available without emphasiz- ing to the students that they had to epaid.'' UCSD also reports that its present default rate is very low. "Over 93 percent of students who borrowed money from UCSD are paying it back," says Rutter, adding: "University efforts to coll t such loans have improved in the last 10 years. This is due in part to the gov- ernment tightening up its regulations on those who take out loans; and on our part, having the tools to do a better job of collectir.g "In the past, it was a lot easier for students to get away (without repay- ment). We're now playing hardball.'' SDSU's default rate i in the same ballpark as those of UCSD and USO - 3.7 percent. One of the most controversial as- pects of the administration's budget proposals on fmancial aid would drastically increase the amount of money a student could borrow. Called the Income Contingent Lo n program, it would increase to f50,000 the student-loan cap, setting it at nearly three times the present cap of $17,250 under the Guaranteed Student Loan program. Loans under the proposed program could be stretched over 30 years, compared with the current 10-year limit. Howard Fisher, UCSD financial aid officer, who attended a recent meeting of the Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations in Washington, D.C., says association members have reservati,ns about the Income Conttngent Loan pro- gram. "We have problems about it," Fisher say ''For one thing, we're concerned about Reagan putting money into this program at the ex- pense of tht loan programs already in place. So which one of the estab- lished programs will be cut in favor of this new, untried ICL program? "Also," he askf:, ''how do you get the people o pay back the loans years after 1,ey graduate from col- lege? "Anotber problem we see is the ad- ministrative costs involved in such a program, keeping track of these peo- ple long after they leave school. How do you administer a program on such complicated data?" In California, legislators are con- sidering following Michigan's lead in allowing parents to "prepay" a child's tuition. Under the program, proposed in bills by Assemblymen Tom Hayden, D-Santa Momca, and Steve Peace, D- Cbula Vista, four years' worth of tui- tion at state universities could be purchased for perhaps as little as $4,200.

In San Diego, university tuition has increased dramatically. At UCSD, annual fees in the 10-year period from 1976-77 to 1986-87 rose from $636 to $1,419; at SDSU, from $170 to $661. At the University of San Diego, tuition increased from $2,604 to $7,340. The higher the tuition, the more likely a student is to take out an ~u- cation loan. One-quarter to one-third of students at state-supported UCSD and SDSU receive some form of fi. nancial aid, but the figure is 40 per- cent at USD, a private university. Whyte says a number of factors are causing the dramatic increases in tuition. "The schools have had to make up the federal cutbacks in financial aid by increasing tuition," he says. "That's because when needy students are unable to get federal loans, the schools feel a commitment to admit

Graduates face growing burden ofstu9,CBt Joans

1987

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ESIDF diplomas, graduates in ever-increasmg numbers are leaving colleges and uni- vers!Ues carrying something else - a crushing amount of student-loan debt. Graduates 1n 1985-86 ere, on av- erage, $7,600 m debt as the result of student loans, accord.n to the Col- lege Boa d In Wa hi ton, D.C. Thats e t'lan le the 1975-76 ave c of , 00 ''We a ly .J ~vc t be con ce bout beth r we re asking youn pie to take on an obligation ~-----, that may be on-

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erous in ways we can't expect them to understand at ag 18 or 19," says a r cent Congres• si nal Jomt Eco- om1c Committee report. Contributmg to the mountain of student debt are

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Dally Transcript (Cir. D. 7,415)

spiraling tu1t1on costs - whict have more than tripled in th past decade - and cuts in fed ral aid for higher education. The n tional statistics are reflect- ed m the expenences of students gra- duating from San Diego universities, accordmg to local fmancial aid offi- cers. Mona Snodgrass, now a graduate student at the University of Califor- ma at San Diego, quickly learned about borrowing to finance her edu- cation. She helped pay her first year at UCSD with a $2,500 Guaranteed Studen Loan and a $500 National Di- rect Student Loan "In my y r, I g o .. • ing · the fmanCl 1 aid of ice u der a work-study grant, and got to know how things worl<," Snodgrass says. "I didn't take out any more loans. I re- alized the loans would add up, and it was better 1f I worked instead of tak- ing out loans. "But I have many friends who graduated after five years in school with $10,000 or more in loans," she said. ''They have to repay about $100 a month to get them paid off." Jon Frankel, UCSD School of Med- icine financial aid officer, says 75 to 80 percent of medical students there receive financial aid. eir course work is so heavy - they study day and night - that they have no time for work," Frankel says. "We're seeing students gr~adu- ate from med school with a debt $40,000 or more at state-sup ed schools, such a3 l'CSD's, and as high .as $80,000 at pri11ate, high-tuition schools.' The con ess1onal committee's re- port, title " tudent Loans: Are They Overburdening a Generation?" says students in public universities and colleges graduate with an average debt of $6,685, while those in private ifastitutions owe an average of $8,950 upon graduation. The interest rates for federal stu- dent loans range from 7 to 9 percent, depending on when a loan was taken out. The current rate is 8 percent. The amount of student debt has risen 10 lockstep with federal student loans. In 1985-86, the latest period computed by the government, 4.7 million students took out $9.8 billion in federal loans ompared with $3.5 Please see LO 'S, A-6

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them anyway, even if that involves helping them with their tuition.''. Another problem: the $2,500-a-year maximum loan amount available for undergraduates under the federal Guaranteed Student Loan program, which Whyte says is often inadequate for poor students who are willing to assume high long-term debt. "To help the needy students meet their total cost of education, the schools must dip into their own re- sources, which come from two sourc- es, tuition revenue and private do- nors who contribute scholarships," he adds. Cal Grants, funds provided by the state, are available on a limited basis for needy students attending UCSD and SDSU, as are a small nwn- ber of university-sponsored scholar- ships. The local universities' financial aid officers say they are concerned about the Reagan administration's efforts to cut student aid, including loans, grants and work-study pro- grams. The White House is proposing that $4.5 billion be spent on student aid for 1987-88, in contrast to the $8.2 bil- lion being spent in the current fiscal year. National and local educators say Congress probably won't go along with President Reagan's proposed drastic cuts for fiscal 1987-88. Janet Hansen, director of policy analysis for the College Board and author of the congressional study of student loans, says Congress won't accept the cuts. Rutter and Whyte agree. Incidentally, the number of stu- dents defaulting on their student loans, once a national scandal, bas been lowered to a level that draws praise from local university loan of- ficers.

The idea is to get parents to invest in a tax-free account managed by the state in exchange for guaranteed tui- tion payments when their children reach college age. More than a dozen private colleges already have created their own pro- grams to woo parent who otherw;·se would send their children to less ex- pensive institutions.

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,089) (Cir. S. 341,840)

A~R 1'31987

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fonday, April 13, 1987

USD to host U.N.-sponsored conference on Pacific Rim issues Aw1 r tg view of the Pacific Rim - held around the world, also is being put on to -------------- lie lectures dealing with Japan. ues to rack up a $58.6 billion trade surplus from the opportunities it pre ents in business create a greater understanding of U.N. activi- Pacific Rim The schedule includes: Roger Dingman, with the United States, according to Kozo to ome of the region's most critical social ties and to reach out to local groups and indi- --------------- professor of history, University of Southern Yamamura, professor of East Asian studies problem will be offered 10 a United Na- viduals who are concerned with U.N. issues. Jon Funabiki California, ''The Impact of the American Oc- and economics at the University of Washing- tions-spon. ored conference to be held April The Pacific Rim was selected as the sub- --------------- cupation on Post-War Japan," 6:30 p.m. April ton in Seattle. 23-25 at the Univers_i!y of San Diego. ject because of local interest, he said. Agricultural Organization, UNICEF, the U.N. 21; Dr. Robert J.C. Butow, professor of histo- To climb out of the devastation of World The conference will attempt to give local Specific topics to be discussed include: High Commissioner for Refugees, the Inter- ry, University of Washington, "FDR and War II, the Japanese government instituted re idcnts not only a better understanding of • How private businesses can take part in American Development Bank, the U.N. De- Japan: The Road to Pearl Harbor," 6:30 p.m. policies that forced its citizens to work hard, Pacific Rim countries and the issues facing the U.N.'s programs in promoting the agricul- velopment Program and the International April 28; Nobuo Shimahara, professor of edu- save money and accept a lifestyle bare of them, but al o insights mto bow San Diego tural and economic development of Pacific Monetary Fund will participate. cational sociology, Rutgers University, luxuries or public amenities, according to play a role m the region. Rim countries. The conference is being co-sponsored local- "Strengths and Weaknesses of Japanese Edu- Yamamura. This I the first hme such a conference has • Pacific Rim trade and economic devel- ly by the Southern California Division of the cation: Implications for America," 4 p.m. The strategies obviously helped create the Id D. r · be. ed opment trends United Nations Association, the San Diego May 4; and Dr. Hans Baerwald, professor of Japanese economic miracle. Yet, Japanese been he n an 1cgo. t 1s mg sponsor lit· 1 · U N 1L · • Hunger in the world. World Trade Association, the Sierra Club and po ica science, UCLA, "Prime Minister Na- workers still live by the spartan codes of the by the t .N.' on-Govcrnmenta ia1SOn k d H" s Service an office that coordmates the activi • Population and migration trends among USD. asone an is uccessors," 6:30 p.m. May 12. past. Pacific Rim nations. For information, contact the U.N. Associa- Telephone 265-5262 for location and more lies of private group., - such as commumty, information. Yamamura says its time for the Japanese church .ind labor organizations active in • Iss rrlated to th J ure of children in !ion in Balboa Park at 233·3970 - to realize that they have "arrived in the fu- U.N act1Y1hes. the Paci • • • • • ture but continue to behave as if they were in Angus M Archer, coordinator of the liaison Representatives of the U.N, the World The Japan Studies Institute at San Diego Despite all its economic success, Japan still the past." In other words, loosen up the purse rv1cc aid the conference, one of a series Bank, the World Food Program, the Food and State University is launching a series of pub- is living in the past, and that's why it contin- strings. -~

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