{"id":22803,"date":"2014-09-22T02:00:35","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T06:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=22803"},"modified":"2014-09-22T11:28:31","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T15:28:31","slug":"how-broward-college-is-cutting-student-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2014\/09\/22\/how-broward-college-is-cutting-student-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"How Broward College Is Cutting Student Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_22805\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"The debt management seminar taught by Kent Dunston is part of the school's efforts to reduce student loan debt.\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-2-KentDunston.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-22805\" alt=\"The debt management seminar taught by Kent Dunston is part of the school's efforts to reduce student loan debt.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-2-KentDunston-300x200.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-2-KentDunston-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-2-KentDunston.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">John O&#39;Connor \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The debt management seminar taught by Kent Dunston is part of the school&#39;s efforts to reduce student loan debt.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>To get a student loan at Broward College, you\u2019ve got to sit through a two-hour financial lesson with Kent Dunston first.<\/p>\n<p>At times, it\u2019s a little like <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scared_Straight!\">\u201cScared Straight!\u201d \u2013 that 1978 documentary about setting juvenile delinquents on the right path<\/a> &#8212; but for your credit score.<\/p>\n<p>Dunston\u2019s first piece of advice \u2013 figure out how much money you\u2019re going to need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not going to borrow more than that amount of money,\u201d he told the students. \u201cYou\u2019ll be offered more. You don\u2019t need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dunston is in charge of student loan defaults for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.broward.edu\/Pages\/home.aspx\">Broward College<\/a>. Those are students who stop paying their loans for nine months or longer.<\/p>\n<p>Colleges have long been concerned about GPAs and SAT scores.<\/p>\n<p>But now they have to be concerned about default rates as well. That\u2019s the percentage of students who stop paying their student loans.<\/p>\n\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignright\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2014\/09\/17\/state-universities-want-45-million-to-offset-bright-futures-changes\/\">State Universities Want $45 Million To Offset Bright Futures Changes<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2014\/09\/15\/new-bright-futures-rules-changing-college-plans-for-florida-students\/\">New Bright Futures Rules Changing College Plans For Florida Students<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2014\/06\/20\/new-florida-report-tracks-state-college-and-university-graduate-earnings\/\">New Florida Report Tracks State College And University Graduate Earnings<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2014\/03\/18\/conversation-about-the-cost-of-college-starts-in-florida\/\">Conversation About The Cost Of College Starts In Florida<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2011\/11\/SATs1-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/topic\/sat\/\">Everything You Need To Know About The SAT&#8230; And Studying For It<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>The latest numbers are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitaljournal.com\/pr\/2195632\">coming out today, and schools will now face punishment from the federal government if the rate is too high<\/a>. Some schools could be closed.<\/p>\n<p>The financial seminar is one of 13 Dunston will teach as classes start up this fall. It\u2019s required for anyone taking out a student loan.<\/p>\n<p>About 75 students watch Dunston explain their share of the ever-growing national debt clock.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s part history lesson \u2013 Dunston tells the students about British scholar <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Samuel_Johnson\">Samuel Johnson, who wrote a seminal dictionary.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe had to leave Oxford University in England after his first year because he did not have enough money to attend,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not about your generation or his generation. It has always been difficult to find money to go to college.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s also part life coach \u2013 telling the story of a young woman concerned how her $137,000 student loan debt would affect her chances of getting married.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat can throw a lot of cold water on a relationship,\u201d he says, \u201cunless the guy can say \u2018Well that\u2019s OK baby, I owe $87,000 myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The students laugh. Maybe a little nervously.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22806\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Broward College student listen to Kent Dunston's debt management workshop.\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-StudentsWorkshop.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-22806\" alt=\"Broward College student listen to Kent Dunston's debt management workshop.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-StudentsWorkshop-300x194.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-StudentsWorkshop-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-StudentsWorkshop.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">John O&#39;Connor \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Broward College students listen to Kent Dunston&#39;s debt management workshop.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Bob Hovey is heading back to college to get an advanced nursing degree. He learned a tough lesson with his first student loan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I would have had this, when I took my first loan 30 years ago,\u201d Hovey said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to go get a house loan and that\u2019s when it came up that I owed six thousand dollars. And that\u2019s when I was lucky enough to have enough money to pay it off. But it will follow you. And it will find you, so there is no running from this debt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Broward College\u2019s debt management course is just one part of the school\u2019s efforts to prevent students from defaulting on their loans.<\/p>\n<p>The school is also trying what seems like a simple idea \u2013 don\u2019t let students borrow more than they need.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is unsubsidized loans.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/docs.google.com\/a\/miamiherald.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1uZGu_p0r6LK6FncReDv6slAuhDkTbDhEw8GSO7rrfKY\/gviz\/chartiframe?oid=128666963\" height=\"371\" width=\"600\" seamless=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There are two common kinds of loans, <a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.ed.gov\/types\/loans\/subsidized-unsubsidized\">subsidized and unsubsidized<\/a>. The federal government pays the interest on subsidized loans until after students graduates.<\/p>\n<p>But students have the pay the interest on unsubsidized loans right away \u2013 and they have a higher interest rate so the debt builds up even faster. And if students want an unsubsidized loan, they can get it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents, typically, if they\u2019ve got it available they go ahead and take those loans out,\u201d said Bob Robbins, associate VP for student affairs.<\/p>\n<p>He says the tuition at Broward College is about $2,400. Students can borrow more than twice that in subsidized loans &#8212; up to $5,500.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22807\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Kent Dunston uses the ever-growing national debt clock as an example how society has a tough time saying no to spending.\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-DebtClock.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-22807\" alt=\"Kent Dunston uses the ever-growing national debt clock as an example how society has a tough time saying no to spending.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-DebtClock-300x222.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-DebtClock-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2014\/09\/9-22-DebtClock.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">John O&#39;Connor \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Dunston uses the ever-growing national debt clock as an example how society has a tough time saying no to spending.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Many students used to borrow even more in unsubsidized loans, and federal law said Broward College had to accept those loans.<\/p>\n<p>But not anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Broward College is part of a U.S. Department of Education experiment and has gotten permission to reject all unsubsidized loans \u2013 federal or private.<\/p>\n<p>So far, Robbins sees no downside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of our big concerns, is what the student impact would be,\u201d Robbins says. \u201cAnd we were really, really surprised at what happened\u2026we didn\u2019t see many complaints. Enrollment didn\u2019t drop \u2013 in fact it increased a little bit the first year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most important change was the reduction in student debt \u2013 $12 million less in the first year alone.<\/p>\n<p>And the percentage of students who default on their loans within two years of leaving school has dropped from about 10 percent to 8 percent. That\u2019s lower than other Florida colleges of similar size.<\/p>\n<p>24-year-old Ciara Hendrix is hoping to get into the nursing school. That\u2019s why she\u2019s at Dunston\u2019s debt management class.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just more helpful when you learn it face to face instead of sitting there on a computer screen clicking and going through the motions,\u201d she said. \u201cYou absorb the information better and you retain it better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hendrix says she\u2019s grateful that learning how to manage money now is part of her education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To get a student loan at Broward College, you\u2019ve got to sit through a two-hour financial lesson with Kent Dunston first. At times, it\u2019s a little like \u201cScared Straight!\u201d \u2013 that 1978 documentary about setting juvenile delinquents on the right path &#8212; but for your credit score. Dunston\u2019s first piece of advice \u2013 figure out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":22806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[1013,1167,774,1141],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22803"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22811,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22803\/revisions\/22811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}