Among the close to 4,000 students who attend UOG, about 600 to 700 of them in an academic year take out a student loan.
\nMark Duarte, director of UOG\u2019s Financial Aid Office, said the national average a graduate has to pay is about $29,000, for a graduate at UOG it is estimated to be about $17,000 to $18,000. The average amount of interest changes ever year, right now it’s at 4.8% but it could change once you do get your loan.<\/p>\n

“I have seen [students] graduate from the university with upwards of $25,000 to $26,000 in debt,” Duarte said.
\nPart of the problem is that students are advised to borrow what they need, but usually ask for the maximum amount that they could borrow even though a lower amount would suffice, says Duarte. In addition, Financial Aid cannot deny a student of borrowing the maximum amount that they are offered.<\/p>\n

“We encourage students to take all the loans that they need to get through their education,” said Michael Gunn, Ph.D., dean of UOG Enrollment Management and Student Services. “But we certainly don’t encourage them to borrow enough money to go buy a car.”
\nGunn added that the less money students borrow from loans, the easier it is for them to pay it back. Nationally, however, the government is drowning in student debt, and more students are defaulting on their loans every year.
\nIn addition to student loan debt, tuition cost will be increasing in the following years.
\nAccording to Gunn, the increase in tuition should not be a cause for concern.<\/p>\n

“It could cause the student debt to go up just a little bit over time,” Gunn explained.
\nGunn added that generally, UOG\u2019s tuition is modest that even just a slight increase in tuition is not going to put a huge strain on students and cause them to take out that more loans,.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Duarte explained that UOG tuition has only increased about $10 more than last year and that another possible cause of student loan debt is that students are taking longer in getting their four-year degree.
\n“It’s a four-year degree, but the average is now approaching five and half, even six years,” says Duarte. “That’s not only UOG, that’s a national issue.”
\nAccording to Gunn, UOG does not have that great of a graduation rate and that almost a third of the students that are going to graduate will graduate after the six year.<\/p>\n

“The longer it takes to get your degrees, the more student debts you incur and the harder it is to pay that back over the long term,” Gunn said.
\nGunn adds that they are looking into the reasons why it does take UOG students longer to graduate and are there ways to assisting students in getting their degree sooner.
\nPart of the reason why student debt may be a growing problem is because applying for a student loan at UOG is a simple process.
\nFirst a student has to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to be to be eligible for a loan. Independent students would use their own tax information to fill out the FAFSA but if they are still associated with their parents, then they would be using their parents information.<\/p>\n

The process is changing a little bit, in that it used to be after the first of the year for the previous tax year and now it’s going to be in the first of October for the current tax year,. Michael Gunn, Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Success.
\nOnce the FAFSA is filed, it is then evaluated by Financial Aid in accordance to Federal Rules. Student will then be notified as to which type of loan they are qualified for.<\/p>\n

There a number a ways a student can get assistance through the federal program, such as Pell Grants, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Work Study, and the three types of loans: Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan, Federal direct Unsubsidized loan, and the Federal Direct Parent Loan.
\nAccording to Gunn, it’s possible for a student to could get enough support from Pell Grants and Scholarships that they don’t have to take out any student loans.<\/p>\n

“Loans are the last step in the process,” says Gunn. “Generally a student who doesn’t have some kind of money set aside to pay for college will end up taking student loans, and it just depends on how much the student needs and what their qualified for.”
\nGunn mentioned that there are two ways a student can prepare to pay off their student loans once they graduate.<\/p>\n

The first is that students who are approaching their graduation should be working with UOG’s Career Development Office, which helps prepare them for internships, practicing interviews, or writing job resumes.<\/p>\n

The second is the UOG Alumni Association, which has a strong network of graduates and business that they partner with that could assist a student get matched up with an employer in the area that fits their degree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the close to 4,000 students who attend UOG, about 600 to 700 of them in an academic year take out a student loan. Mark Duarte, director of UOG\u2019s Financial Aid Office, said the national average a graduate has to pay is about $29,000, for a graduate at UOG it is estimated to be about … <\/p>\n

Read more “Student Loan Could Pose a Problem for UOG Graduates”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[285],"yoast_head":"\n