As an Arts Administration student, and a college loan debtor, AND a
Financial Aid Counselor at a private university, I have watched this
thread develop into quite a discussion- mostly complaining and personal
back-patting- but nontheless interesting!  I am looking forward to a
career change in the next year or two- into the exciting and rewarding
museum field- and I, too, am feeling the effects of the "borrowing
years."  I know I will take a cut in pay (however slight) to move into
the new field but I feel it is worth it!

The most frightening part of it is this:  college tuition has been
constantly rising for the past couple decades- at an alarming rate, and
government assistance programs (grants) have NOT been keeping up!  (Not
that my family ever qualified for ANY federal or state grants- but that
is an entirely different rant!)  I certify hundreds upon hundreds of
loans every year for my students, and I can tell you that most of them
are for the maximum amounts!  These students are leaving school with
outrageous financial burdens...  Think of it this way: most graduate
programs are about 2-3 years long, and at our university the students
are allowed to take out 1 and 1/2 federal loans per year.  This amounts
to $27,250 each year.  After three years of just graduate study alone
they will have a loan debt of $83,250. (This does not include any
undergraduate loans.)  Their monthly payments will amount to about $750
per month for the next 10 years.  The majority of student whose loans I
certify are for the maximum amounts.

I don't know what the answer is to this growing problem, I just know
that it is harder and harder to leave college without some kind of debt
to repay.  I hate starting out so far behind, but when I compare it to
where I would have been without loans (i.e. without college) it brings
it all into perspective.

Keeping my head above water (barely),

Barbara Hawkins
Financial Aid Counselor
Golden Gate University