There’s no doubt that the rising cost of college tuition and other expenses associated with higher education is making it harder and harder for people to attend college. Plus, those who are otherwise capable of obtaining affordable student loans tend to be doubtful that the current job market will supply them with the employment necessary to pay them back. It seems a college degree is something reserved for the affluent.
But then there’s Diego Sepulveda, a UCLA student who was the first in his blue-collar family to attend college. He was so hungry for the chance to obtain a college degree that he literally went hungry, and even homeless, because his job situation couldn’t support the financial demands of the university.
Homeless Students Struggling to Finance their Education
A recent Economic Policy Institute briefing paper, The Kid’s Aren’t Alright: A Labor Market Analysis of Young Workers, explains, “Though young adults represent only 13.4 percent of the workforce, they now account for 26.4 percent of unemployed workers.” America’s youth seem to have it harder than most when it comes to finding work, which contributes to some students’ inability to pay for both tuition and basic living costs. That’s why many have to choose one over the other or suffer massive student loan debt.
There aren’t really any solid statistics available on the number of current college students who are homeless, but it appears to be a problem that remains, if not increases, year to year. Many of these students view the end goal–a degree–as their ticket out of poverty, which is why they continue to sleep in cars and on couches, shower at the gym and eat sparingly while struggling to finance their college career.
For-Profit Colleges Target Poverty-Stricken Students
To make matters worse, profit-driven colleges and trade schools (the kind that accept anyone with a signed check) are encouraging students to take on loans they can’t afford and attend their programs.
According to an article in Businessweek, federal aid provided to students at for-profit colleges was $4.6 billion in 2000. In 2009, that number had skyrocketed to $26.5 billion. In fact, publicly traded higher education companies receive three-fourths of their revenue from federal funds. How? It has become common practice for these companies to target low-income students specifically, convince them to take out huge loans for an education they can’t afford and reap huge profits while leaving their students and taxpayers responsible for the bill.
Help for the Homeless…and You
So what are today’s high school graduates to do when public education pushes them out and private schools prey on everything they have? There are actually several federal grants, programs and mandates meant to help students pay for school while taking on little to no debt, it’s just a matter of educating potential students about their availability. Here are a few options:
Student Loan Forgiveness: Not surprisingly, many of the homeless students who make it through all four years go on to do social work and public service. Working in this industry means you might not have to pay off your loans.
Income-Based Repayment: The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2009 put in place several provisions to make paying back student loans easier for graduates. IBR caps the monthly payment amount according to the borrower’s income. This only applies to certain types of loans, however.
Pell Grants: These government grants (meaning they don’t have to be repaid) just got a big boost in funding thanks to student loan reform. The maximum award amount for the 2010-2011 year was $5,550 and they are given out based on financial need.
People like Diego and the hundreds, possibly thousands, of other college students who are willing to go without food and shelter just to pursue their educational goals should cause everyone who has put off college to reevaluate their own reasons for doing so.
A college education is not the best option for everyone, nor it it the key to a financially stable life. However, anyone who wishes they had gone but didn’t for financial reasons should know that there’s always a way to get what you want when you want it badly enough.
My fiance is working in the medical field. College cost her just over $100k for 4 years and the government pays some of her loans off for every year she works. This next July she will have everything paid off and it only took 5 years. So its possible for anyone to put them self through college.