University students face graduating with diploma and debt

In just a few weeks, some 1,900 students are graduating from California State University Monterey Bay. Many will have a diploma in one hand, a big bill in the other.

“I don’t know, I’m kind of a little nervous,” senior Vanessa Haro said. “I have yet to apply for a job or I don’t know where I’ll be living.”

But there’s one thing Haro does know. When she leaves CSUMB this spring, she’ll owe $15,000 in student loans. She’s not alone.

“We actually have about 72 percent of our students that have some type of financial aid here at CSUMB,” said Ashlie McCallon, lead financial aid counselor.

There are grants and scholarships that don’t have to be repaid, and student loans, which do. Even before students take out a loan, CSUMB’s Financial Aid Office schools them on what they need to know.

“To do a workshop that goes into great detail about the different types of loans, how to pay student loans while in school if they choose, how to make the payments when they’re out of school, the different loan repayment options that are out there and we also have specific counselors that are assigned to help students with loan repayment,” McCallon said.

Financial aid website “Edvisors” reports the average student loan debt nationally is $35,000, the highest it has ever been. The average student loan debt at CSUMB is nearly half that at $17,000. With baseline tuition starting at $6,000 a year, freshman Christian Burnham passed on big-name colleges with big price tags.

“I was getting into a lot of different schools but CSUMB with Cal Grant and other financial aid assistance, I was able to walk out with my tuition covered for the four years that I’ll be here,” Burnham said. “And with doing that, you still get loans, to pay housing, room and board, those aspects, but then working a part time job and doing some investments, I was able to walk out having no debt this year, paying off my loans, and not having to pay the interest off the loan.”