NEWS

UWGB rally focuses on student debt

Nathan Phelps
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

There’s always a chance Max Loebl won’t see some of his Lawrence University classmates return when they leave for the summer.

The culprit: the cost of a college education.

“We have people who will finish their spring academic term and then go home and have to work two or even three jobs, just to make sure they can come back,” said Loebl, a Lawrence senior, speaking at a campus rally last week in Appleton. “It’s always sad to see people leave and you’re worrying that maybe they won’t even come back.”

The USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin is exploring the cost of college in its Degrees of Debt series. The public is invited to attend a campus rally at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Tuesday, Oct. 4, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Christie Theater inside the University Union.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is designed to foster a community conversation about access to education in the face of climbing costs. Two more events are planned in Stevens Point and Oshkosh.

The USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin is exploring the cost of college in its Degrees of Debt series. The public is invited to attend the first campus rally designed to foster a community conversation about access to education in the face of climbing costs at University of Wisconsin – Green Bay Oct. 4

“Today’s high school seniors, now more than ever, have to think about how they’re going to pay for higher education,” said Pete Frank, the Press-Gazette’s engagement editor. “They have to make smart choices about what they want to study and whether a two-year or four-year school is the best option. Or is joining the workforce right out of high school a better decision? Do they go somewhere close and live at home in order to defray costs? Looming over all these decisions is cost.”

About 70 percent of 2014 college graduates in Wisconsin had some level of debt –the average amount was almost $29,000 -- according to a 2015 report from the Institute for College Access & Success. In 2004 about 60 percent of the state’s graduates were carrying an average of $16,560 of debt.

“With the skyrocketing cost for higher education, we need to ensure that this generation of young adults understands the ramifications of paying for college and piling on student debt,’ Frank said. “If the average is $29,000 of debt, do graduating seniors really comprehend how much they’ll have to pay each month and how that will affect everything in their lives? When they’re out of college, will they be able to get a car? Buy a home? Pay for a trip? Even live on their own?”

While some students and their families are able to cover the rising cost of tuition, others can’t, and that has wider implications for Wisconsin’s economy and residents.

A paper from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce indicates 35 percent of all jobs by 2020 will require at least a bachelor’s degree and another 30 percent some college or an associate’s degree. And it’s not likely there will be enough qualified workers to fill those positions.

The center estimates the nation’s workforce with post secondary-credentials will be about 5 million people short in the next four years.

The fastest growing job segments include healthcare and science, technology, engineering and mathematics – related jobs, all require high levels of education.

Frank is getting a first-hand lesson in the cost of that education.

“The oldest of my four children is a senior in high school and we’ve already started looking at the costs of higher education,” he said. “It’s daunting.”

— nphelps@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @nathanphelpsPG or Instagram at Nathan_Phelps_PG