Though more and more students at universities and colleges across the country are taking out loans to finance their educations, Boston University has only seen a slight increase in the amount of students receiving financial assistance in the form of loans, according to Christine McGuire, executive director of the BU Office of Financial Assistance.
Student loans have become one of the most popular means of financial assistance, and an increasing number of BU students are relying on loans to supplement any financial package that may be offered by the university, McGuire said. 10,500 BU students receive financial assistance, and 8,500 of these students have taken out loans that average $9,800 a year.
McGuire attributed much of the increase to the larger number of students at BU this year. She said the 5 percent increase in students receiving loans may be more like a 3 percent increase.
‘There is a two-fold national trend for people seeking alternative sources of loans,’ McGuire said. ‘The federal government has not increased the amount of money given toward student loans in 10 years, and credit has exploded in our no-worries culture.’
Jena Wiley, a College of Communication junior, currently has a package made up of around $15,000 a year in loans she must begin paying as soon as she graduates. She said while she is happy she was able to finance her education, the post-graduate financial impact seems daunting.
‘It is hard to know that after college, I will be thousands of dollars in debt,’ Wiley said. ‘I try not to think about it now, but I know that it will be stressful later.’
Although he hasn’t taken out more than $6,000 in loans yet, Jesse Perrell, a sophomore, said securing undergraduate loans can be difficult at times.
‘So far I have paid my tuition with a lump sum of money, but now I must look to loans to help cover my tuition for the rest of my educational experience at BU,’ he said.
Perell said paying loans back may be a problem with the field into which he hopes to enter.
‘I plan to move back to the West Coast to continue my education,’ he said. ‘I am interested in a career involving human rights or environmental issues and I know that they are not the most profitable careers.’
From a different perspective, Jerry Skefos, a freshman who does not pay for his education using loans, said society needs educated citizens, no matter how they pay for it.
‘I don’t think that I should have to pay loans,’ he said. ‘In America, our democracy needs educated citizens and it isn’t fair that people that come from money have it easier to get a high-class education. I don’t like loans but at least they allow everyone to get the same education.’