{"id":3264,"date":"2011-11-15T15:40:29","date_gmt":"2011-11-15T20:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/?p=3264"},"modified":"2012-02-13T15:42:01","modified_gmt":"2012-02-13T20:42:01","slug":"qa-whats-driving-unhs-high-student-debt-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/2011\/11\/15\/qa-whats-driving-unhs-high-student-debt-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: What’s Driving UNH’s High Student Debt Numbers?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Truthout.org \/ Flickr<\/p>

New Hampshire leads the nation in average student debt<\/p><\/div>\n

Starting last week, and continuing today, we’ve been focusing on a report<\/a> from the Project on Student Debt<\/a>. Nationally, the average Class of 2010 student graduated with $25,250 in loans, while New Hampshire alumni carried student debt loads of \u00a0$31,048, on average.<\/p>\n

Although it’s clear that average student debt in New Hampshire is high, there are some differences from school to school.\u00a0 For example, University of New Hampshire<\/a> students attending the Durham campus graduated with the highest debt \u2014 an average of $32,323, Dartmouth<\/a> grads only carried less than $19,000 in loans.\"\"<\/p>\n

As we noted in yesterday’s post about the relatively low debt load among recent Dartmouth alumni<\/a>, high levels of student debt can have both long- and short-term economic effects.\u00a0 Heavy loan burdens can prevent recent graduates from making major purchases, or even from moving out of their parents’ houses.\u00a0 High levels of debt can also have a negative effect on long-term savings and economic stability.\u00a0 Then, of course, if young people can’t afford a New Hampshire education, the state risks its reputation as a leader in supplying workers for the knowledge-based economy.<\/p>\n

In a follow-up to yesterday’s Q&A post with Dartmouth’s Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, today, we’re talking with Mark Rubinstein, the University of New Hampshire’s Vice President for Student and Academic Services.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>The Class of 2010 from UNH Durham campus–they carry a lot of debt…Why is it, in your opinion, that the kids at UNH are needing so much financial aid to go to a state school?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Well, keep in mind that the figures I think you\u2019re looking at, if they\u2019re blended for residents and non-residents, you\u2019re going to get a slightly different number than at an institution that serves primarily students from its own state.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Sure, but…if they\u2019re measuring Iowa and Idaho and California and New Hampshire in the same way, New Hampshire still stands out.<\/p>\n

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University of new Hampshire \/ UNH Vice President for Student and Academic Services Mark Rubinstein explains why student debt numbers\u00a0 are so high<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A: <\/span>Right. \u00a0No doubt about that.\u00a0 Higher education, particularly public higher education in New Hampshire, is extraordinarily expensive by standards in the nation and even in the region.\u00a0 No disagreement about that. \u00a0If you look at the federal student loan programs, particularly the Stafford loan program, given changes that were made in the borrowing limits a couple of years ago during the credit crisis, if a student is simply borrowing what the federal government guarantees over those four years, you\u2019re looking at $25,000. \u00a0There was a time when the limits were $2,000 less per year. \u00a0So in some respects, the federal government has…increased the likelihood students will be borrowing more from what had historically been considered advantageous programs for students.<\/p>\n

Now, additionally, you\u2019ve got parents who are paying for a portion of the education, and in some cases using Plus [federal] loans, you\u2019ve got students who are turning to the alternative loan market, the private loan market, to supplement.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>As far as your student makeup, if I were to look at this as a pie, do you know roughly what percentage would be, say, in the upper income brackets, as opposed to lower or middle?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>If we were to look at students with family incomes, adjusted gross incomes [AGI] under $60,000, that would\u2019ve been about 40 percent of our New Hampshire students last year, and would\u2019ve been about 30 percent of our students from outside of the state. \u00a0If we\u2019re talking about students, you know, between $60,001 and $100,000, about 20 percent of the non-resident students, and on the resident side, that group would have been about 25 percent.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Since the economy collapsed a few years ago, have you had to cut back on your financial aid programs? \u00a0And by financial aid, I mean specifically things that help students to avoid loans, especially scholarships, grants, and to some extent, work-study?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Higher education, particularly public higher education in New Hampshire, is extraordinarily expensive by standards in the nation and even in the region.”<\/p>\n

–Mark Rubinstein<\/h6>\n

<\/div>\n

A: <\/span>No. \u00a0We\u2019ve actually spent more money in the last several years. \u00a0The trend has always been upward, and that has not abated in recent years…Over the last decade or so, our need-based grants, the ones that the university funds, have probably just about tripled, from\u2026the $10-$12 million range to almost $37 million last year, and over $40 million this year. \u00a0During that time, we\u2019ve also offered a merit-based program to attract and retain strong students. \u00a0That one has actually been relatively constant. \u00a0It\u2019s ranged between about $8 and $9 million over the last decade. \u00a0And although there are certainly motivations to want to increase that, our rationale for keeping that relatively constant has been to keep as much of the available funding in need-based programs as we could.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Say I\u2019m just your kid from your average, middle class family, adjusted gross income of about $100,000 or so. If the federal government says I\u2019m qualified for $20,000 in aid between my federal loans and the work-study, and I look like a regular, not-too-needy person, I\u2019m probably not going to get need-based aid from UNH?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>If we look at NH residents last year who had AGI\u2019s between $80,000 and $100,000, and the average grant for…students in that band would\u2019ve been about $2,000. \u00a0If I look at students who were between $60,000 and $80,000 for their AGI, their average would\u2019ve been about $4,000…And as the family\u2019s income goes up, the university\u2019s support will decline.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Why it is that the University of NH in particular skews so much higher not just than other state universities, but some private universities?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>There are a couple of factors there. \u00a0One of those is the population that we serve. And so we\u2019re going to have perhaps a different profile than other schools serve. \u00a0It\u2019s also the case that although the university has increased the amount of aid we\u2019ve put in need-based programs, given the relative paucity of state funding, we\u2019re limited in how far we can go in extending aid to students, because we risk not investing enough in the classroom experience, in the work of the faculty, the technology, the library, the other things that provide for the benefits that education is supposed to provide to students.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>What would a sufficient funding program for students look like?<\/p>\n

Related<\/h4>
Posts<\/h5>