STUDENT FINANCE
STUDENT SOUND-OFF
households. Our nation cannot continue to balance the budget on the backs of students.
At the same time as students are borrowing
more, the expectations for students have changed. We are expected to graduate college with experience to help land a job. Tis experience is best found through an internship or leadership experience through campus involvement. However, students must either sacrifice this experience or payment from working a job, because these two often do not go hand in hand. We as students work hard to complete our degrees while working to build a resume that will land us a job, but in today’s world, graduates are un- able to find work that allows them to pay off student debt as well as basic living expenses–the reason many are moving back in with their families and friends.
With each tuition increase, students are
required to reassess their finances and take on a greater debt load. Tis leads many students to question whether or not their degree is even worth it; no student should feel this way. An education is an investment in oneself and one’s future. As students, we have chosen to make this investment. However, our country must also make a sound effort to reinvest in its peo- ple through education. As students, we need to see our local, state and federal leaders assure us we will be able to find jobs in our related fields when we graduate. We need to have trust to start a small business or purchase a home. My generation wonders why we are not worth the investment that our parents and grandparents were worth through funding for their higher education.
Over the last year, I have been empowered by the number of students ready to share their sto- ries, and speak about the importance of funding for higher education. Student leaders across the nation have gathered to raise awareness for the importance of the Pell Grant and the need for maintaining the 3.4 percent interest rate on the subsidized Stafford student loans. Te one-year extension of the loan rate and short-term guaran- tee for Pell Grant funding were not enough. We must all come together and work towards long- term change and support for higher education, or we will not be able to keep pace with the need for job creation and skilled labor.
Regulatory Migraine? DUNN & DAVISON LLC
ATTORNEYS AT LAW Your Higher Education Regulatory Compliance Solution
Amanda Bardonner is a student at St. Cloud State University and is State Chair of the Minnesota State University Student Association, and can be reached at:
Amanda.Bardonner@
gmail.com
For more information, contact: Ron Holt, 816-292-7200, or visit
www.dunndavison.com/highereducation Kansas City, MO • Leawood, KS • Houston, TX
JULY/AUG 2012 •
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