Trapped by Student Loans

Education costs demand higher earning, not higher learning

Higher education is more vital then ever before in remaining competitive in today’s job market, but as education costs have continued to climb, government support for higher education has significantly declined. Today, colleges and universities are turning out unprecedented numbers of graduates who have impressive degrees and, often, tremendous amounts of student debt.    

Jeff Samanen is a music therapist at The Door, a youth services agency in New York City. He has a master’s degree from New York University and a bachelor’s from Boston University. To finance his education, he took out $80,000 in student loans.

Jeff Samanen, a music therapist at The Door, a New York City youth services agency, owes $80,000 in student loans.

“I went to one of the most expensive schools in the country for my master’s degree and I was warned,” says Samanen, 32. “But it allows me to have the kind of job that I can’t put a price tag on, although on some days when I look at my debt I don’t feel that.”

Though a large percentage 1199ers receive tuition assistance with the Training and Upgrading Fund benefits negotiated in their contracts, many students are left with nowhere to turn but to banks and big lending companies because of today’s education costs. In efforts to avoid being trapped by long-term debt, many are foregoing lower-paying human service jobs like teaching and social work in favor of higher-paying fields.

But even a potentially lucrative career choice is no guarantee against economic hardship. Diane Colozzi, a patient access representative at Community General Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., has $160,000 in student debt from financing her bachelor’s degree and chiropractic school.

“In chiropractic it takes time to build a practice. Then I had my son and some unexpected health problems, so it wound up that I couldn’t practice. I never thought I’d be in this position,” says Colozzi. “I try to pay $900 a month. My loan payment is triple my mortgage.”

Currently, tuition at private four-year universities averages $33,000 per year. According to the American Council on Education, 62 percent of all 2005 bachelor’s degree recipients graduated with some federal student loan debt. Graduates’ median debt amounts ranged from $15,500 at public, four-year institutions to nearly $25,000 at private four-year institutions.

Also, recent investigations by the New York State attorney general's office have revealed that schools have been steering their students to certain lenders in exchange for kickbacks. This has cost students millions. The scandal has led to the resignation of college financial officers and the adoption of codes of conducts by many of the schools.

Attorney General Cuomo announced in June that he was expanding his office’s investigation to determine whether the lenders have violated civil rights’ redlining laws.

“These [financial] conditions have been unfavorable for a long time,” says Bob Shachter, executive director of the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). “What have been getting really bad have been the tax cuts. They have resulted in huge hikes in tuition at the public universities as well as in the private universities.”

Social workers have the highest debt to income ratio of any profession. In New York, NASW is currently working to expand a $1 million student loan forgiveness program for social workers. Such programs are a rarity. In 2005, New York’s social work student loan forgiveness program attracted more applicants than any professional loan forgiveness program in state history.

“I have a friend who works on Wall St. and has a B.A., no graduate degree, and he makes $250,000,” says Samanen. “That’s great for him. But I’m punished for trying to help those worse off.  In today’s society we’re given the exact wrong message. It makes me furious.”