The 21st century has generated its share of bleak circumstances. Near the top of that list is the soaring cost of college and the debt incurred by students.
Sadly, students are now forced to weigh the value of their education primarily on dollars-and-cents issues. “How soon will I earn enough money to repay my loans?” “Should I choose a major offered at a cheaper college instead of the field that interests me?” “Should I quit college to get a full-time job, save up and finish some other time?” “Is my degree worth the debt?”
In a legislative session dominated by ideological point-scoring, the Indiana General Assembly conducted one of its few meaningful discussions in 2012 last week. Lawmakers moved forward a bill to streamline the college credit transfer process. It would require state-funded universities to include 30 hours of general-education credit hours that are compatible with any other in-state school. That way, students transferring from one school to another would not have to retake courses already completed because their new destination does not accept the previous school’s credits. Thus, they are not paying twice.
If you’ve been out of college for a few decades, such a transfer glitch may seem inconsequential. It’s not.
The average tuition paid by a freshman at an Indiana college rose from $3,233 in 2000 to $6,576 last year, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. At a hearing on the bill Monday, Higher Ed Commissioner Teresa Lubbers handed legislators a sobering statistic. Indiana now has the third-highest student-loan default rate in the country. That is troubling, to say the least.
That default rate was 11.61 percent in 2009, according to annual reports by campus financial aid offices to the U.S. Department of Education. In a state that will need an additional 1 million college-trained workers to compete internationally, the defaults represent an open wound. Hoosiers trying to gain skills to advance in the labor force instead fall further behind. “Loan defaults are most common at the community college level, as those students generally have the highest level of financial need,” Jason Bearce, Higher Education associate commissioner, told the Tribune-Star.
At the four-year public universities, the heftiest tuition and fee increases occurred at the main campuses. From 2000 to 2012, those costs increased 154.5 percent at Purdue in West Lafayette, 133 percent at Indiana State, 132.2 percent at Ball State, 124.7 percent at Indiana University in Bloomington, and 122 percent at IUPUI, according to the Commission for Higher Ed. Lubbers testified that two of every three graduates of a four-year public college in Indiana carries a student-loan debt of more than $27,000.
The college affordability issue has entrenched arguments from every player involved. The schools correctly point out the legislature has allowed the cost burden to shift from the state to the students’ families and the universities. Lawmakers say they’re funneling more actual dollars toward higher ed, but the tuition increases by the colleges exceed the rate of inflation; the state simply can’t keep up.
Everybody’s right, and everybody’s wrong. The bottom line is those tuition prices, the student-loan debts, and the rate of loan defaults. Those are real.
Recently, IU cut its summer-term tuition. Purdue began a transition to year-round semesters, quickening the degree process. ISU President Dan Bradley set a goal, last fall, of holding future increases to the cost-of-living index. Last week, an ISU affordability task force announced a long list of recommendations to ease students’ financial burdens.
It all sounds good. The real proof will come when students actually see their tuition decrease or at least remain unchanged, and when their loans are no longer the size of a mortgage payment. Until then, the Legislature, the colleges and the Commission on Higher Ed must keep working at it.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Transferring credits, lessening debt
Bill makes progress toward helping college students
- Editorials
-
-
EDITORIAL: Towering response
It comes as incredibly sad news that a Garfield Towers resident has succumbed as the result of a fire last week at the northside apartment complex.
-
EDITORIAL: Independent running mates
Almost certainly, running mates will not influence voters choosing Indiana’s next governor.
-
EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
• Cream of the crop
• Keep the ideas flowing
• Remembering fallen officers
-
EDITORIAL: Hazards of the spring abundant now on I-70
A major holiday weekend is approaching. The weather has been consistently inviting for travel and outdoor activity. Gas prices are even inching downward.
-
EDITORIAL: Embrace the Sycamores
Terre Haute should understand the rarity of an opportunity to celebrate a championship.
-
EDITORIAL: Good choice for stability
For the first time in 25 years, Indiana will have a new chief justice for its Supreme Court. For those who value stability on the state’s highest court — and we count ourselves among those who do — the appointment Tuesday of longtime Justice Brent Dickson is good news.
-
EDITORIAL: Correcting the prison imbalance
Terre Haute will no longer count federal prisoners when the city slices its population into six equal City Council districts. That decision by the City Council last week to remove the inmates at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex from the council district mathematical formula may not make waves, but it makes sense.
-
EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the News
• Sometimes bureaucracies do listen
• April hours bring May flowers
• Getting our airport off the ground
-
EDITORIAL: When it’s IU vs. UK, there’s got to be a way
If the annual Indiana-Kentucky basketball game was not significant, would the coaches of the two universities be talking like this?
-
EDITORIAL: Sen. Lugar’s compelling message
Richard Lugar, no stranger to reading political tea leaves, undoubtedly knew for weeks that defeat was coming Tuesday night in his primary fight for re-election against a more-conservative-than-thou opponent. A statement Lugar released just hours after his loss of titantic proportions indicates that the six-term incumbent saw the reality even before he knew Richard Mourdock was to be his opponent this May.
-
EDITORIAL: Reviewing the landscape
The compelling story line surrounding the race between Richard Lugar and Richard Mourdock dominated most of the local primary election chatter. With those stunning results now in the books and Mourdock heading toward a showdown with Democratic Party nominee Joe Donnelly of South Bend (the current U.S. House rep from the 2nd District), it’s time to survey the landscape for other general election races that will be worthy of attention.
-
EDITORIAL: GOP changed; Lugar didn’t
Six terms. Overwhelming popularity. A statesman and a gentleman. A visionary. An icon in the annals of U.S. Senate leadership, even world leadership. So dominating on the political landscape that the opposing party did not even produce a candidate in the last election.
-
EDITORIAL: An exercise in democracy
Primary elections rarely draw the same levels of participation as general elections.
-
EDITORIAL: Fight against child abuse demands ongoing attention
As with many of our nation’s most maddening and perplexing social problems, one hardly knows how to fathom the egregious wrongs that occur when a child is abused.
-
EDITORIAL: A ‘giant’ for his hometown
Home is where the heart is. That’s true for all of us. In addition, your heart can take you home.
-
EDITORIAL: Curbing corruption a worthwhile crusade
If you are cynical about government, down to its most local levels, you may think it is overrun — or even controlled — by corruption.
-
EDITORIAL: The politics of Primary 2012
In less than a week, voting Hoosiers get a chance to make a statement about the future of politics in their state and beyond. But whatever that statement turns out to be, the final punctuation marks won’t be added until November. It’s possible that nothing will be settled by the end of the night May 8.
-
EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
• Their footsteps can lead us
• It would be music to his ears
• Feeding a genuine need
-
EDITORIAL: Hoosier Republicans should stick with Richard Lugar
Until late 2008, most Hoosiers were quite pleased — and in many cases, darn right proud — to call Richard Lugar their senior U.S. senator.
-
EDITORIAL: Matt Branam: 1954-2012
The sudden death of 57-year-old Matt Branam on Friday morning continues to leave an air of sadness hanging over the community.
-
EDITORIAL: A transplant from St. Ann’s
It would be understandable, for most of us, if we were madder than the opposite of heaven if a beloved, historic, personal part of our lives was to be taken away against our will.
-
EDITORIAL: Pragmatic approach to downtown development benefits community
Terre Haute has known for some time now that Indiana State University’s master plan includes creation of student residential centers off-campus in the nearby downtown area.
-
TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: A salute to pride of ’55
Terre Haute gets the chance to witness and appreciate the extent of its rich baseball legacy this Saturday. Its past and present will merge at Bob Warn Field.
-
EDITORIAL: A match of Mitt and Mitch?
Not every Indiana governor’s endorsement of a presidential candidate has made instant national news as did Mitch Daniels’ support for Mitt Romney on Wednesday.
-
EDITORIAL: Drilling for fairness
Consistency and fairness were on trial Monday as the Vigo County commissioners grappled with a controversial rezoning request from a property owner who wants to drill for oil on his land near Hawthorn Park northeast of Terre Haute.
-
EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
Cheers, jeers and tears
-
EDITORIAL: Be fair, consistent, but keep smokefree ordinance on track
The steps toward a healthier, more vibrant community should continue moving forward.
-
EDITORIAL: Inspired by tradition, celebration
With the observance of Orthodox Easter on Sunday, the spring holy holidays for Christians and Jews will have passed for another year.
-
EDITORIAL: No need to sing the blues
The words from Terre Haute Board of Works President Bob Murray on Monday afternoon were as sweet to the ear as a blues riff from an electric guitar: “The bottom line is, [Blues at the Crossroads] should be able to operate just as it has before. It will get worked out.”
-
EDITORIAL: Traps abound in online world
For parents, guardians, civil authorities and those who supervise and nurture children of all ages, there is nothing new in the notion that the online world of digital communications is fraught with danger.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
EDITORIAL: Towering response
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Dragon Arrives at Space Station in Historic 1st
Police: Gunman Has Hostages in Realty Office
Passenger Restrained on Flight to Miami Arrested
Beer Here!: An Historic Exhibit
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: SpaceX Capsule's Docking Delayed
Sudden Storm Topples Wisconsin Trees
Raw Video: Toddler Trapped in Washing Machine
Vegas Grocer Deported to Face War Crimes Charges
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
Raw Video: Wildfire Burns 110 Square Miles
Kristen Stewart Is Red Hot
Shark Attacks Australian Fishing Boat
Bradley out for playoffs
Kayaker Survives Trip Over Washington Waterfall
Alison Brie Likes To Jog Naked
Heidi Klum Goes Sheer
Alton's Best Burger Ever
Ellie Kemper's Stripper Surprise on 'Ellen'
Maddie the Balancing Dog On Cross-Country Trip
Crawford's Sexy Leather Look
Boys eyes 'removed with spoon'
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
"Twilight" Stars Caught Kissing
Etan Patz Case: Suspect Arrested
Britney's Hot Pink Mini-Dress
Wrongfully accused rapist exonerated after 5 years in jail
Actress to Play Casey Anthony
Hurricane Forecast: 15 Named Storms Expected
Prince William on The Queen: 'Woman in Man's World'
