|
|
2. Student debt is on the rise, with two-thirds of college students graduating with loan debt as of 2003-2004, compared to half of all graduates in debt in 1992-93, according to U.S. Department of Education’s latest data. Average debt during that time climbed from $9,297 to $19,202, with one-fourth of college graduates accumulating loans of $25,000 or higher. 3. Two-thirds of adults in a recent national survey said employers are more likely to hire college graduates than persons without degrees, even if the job could be done by someone in either category. 4. Saving beats borrowing. A $100,000 college education will cost an investor $65,893 (based on 10 years of savings earning 8 percent interest) versus the $145,593 cost of borrowing the money, according to the College Savings Plan Network. 5. Over the past 25 years, the average cost of college tuition and fees increased faster than inflation, consumer prices, per capita income, prescription costs or health insurance. 6. In Florida over the past 25 years, tuition at the state’s public universities and community colleges has increased nearly 6 percent a year on average. 7. The maximum federal Pell Grant for students needing financial aid is $4,310 a year as of 2007-08. According to the Education Trust, a Pell Grant that in 1979 covered 75 percent of the costs of attending a four-year public college covers about 33 percent of those costs today. 8. A new college graduate interested in teaching may find paying back college loans unmanageable on a teacher’s salary. State Public Interest Research Groups report 23 percent of those who attended a public college and 38 percent of those who attended a private college are likely to find themselves in a financial bind if they become schoolteachers. 9. Newly enrolled Florida State University students are required to have health insurance as of this fall, and FSU is offering uninsured students a $1,449 a year health policy. The Florida Board of Governors is discussing whether 10 other state universities should go in this direction by 2010. 10. Filling up the gas tank to get to campus, work and back home to Mom and Dad is getting more expensive. The cost of gas, hovering around $3 a gallon now, was just 95 cents a gallon on average 20 years ago, more proof that unforeseen expenses are likely to face your future college student and another good reason to save. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
