A generation ago, it was
typical for families to support their college students financially, but now as
the cost of school and debt increases, expenses for college can no longer be
“pay as you go.“
A college
professor in English at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse stated that when
he was going to school his parents could just write a check and pay for his
tuition. 30 years ago it was the parents’ responsibility to pay for their
child’s tuition. Even if the college
students had jobs, it was not typical that they had the job in order to help
them pay for college.
But now, it is almost essential for students
to have jobs and work their way through college because parents simply cannot
afford to pay the costs of college all by themselves.
The majority of
students say they have jobs. Some have jobs just for extra pocket money, but
other students are expected to help out and pay for their tuition. Some parents
are not helping their child pay for school at all.
The results of
school bills rising also affects the number of years students are spending in
school. Students have to get jobs as well as focus on school. College is now 3
to 6 years long, when 30 years ago it was 4 years at most.
About 15 percent,
1400 students, are working on the UWL campus itself. On average, the UWL
students are working about 7-9 hours per week. Some students work more hours
but the maxim limit students are allowed to work on campus is 20 hours a week. 40
to 50 percent of
human resource students
work off campus while working for the school. The financial aid office at UWL
as well as the career services at UWL were not able to say how many students
are working off campus in general, because they are not provided that
information.
A student at UWL
was quoted in the Racquet as saying
that he was surprised by how many hours that he had to work during school. This
student thought that his workload plus the added stress of school was even more
than what he would be expected to do after he graduates and has a career. The accuracy of this can be questioned, but
his statements just go to show how tough it is to manage school and work.
Students are thinking that it cannot be worse than this. That once they get a
career, it won’t be as stressful as being a student in college and working at
the same time.
UWL students and
families have to come up with coping skills to pay for college because of the
costs. About 50 percent of undergraduate UWL students receive need based aid.
The average scholarship or grant award is 5,185. In 2012, 71 percent of UWL
graduates took out loans. 4 percent of
parents are borrowing from the parent plus loan. Often times, parents and
students are denied from the PLUS loans because they are deemed not to have
enough money to be able to pay the loans back. Some of the federal loans are direct
subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans, Direct PLUS loans, and Federal
Perkins Loans. Students are also awarded scholarships and grants. There are
Academic scholarships, Creative arts/performance scholarships, Music/Drama
scholarships, Minority scholarships, ROTC scholarships, Alumni affiliation
scholarships, and Leadership scholarships. There are also work study programs
that students can apply to be part of.
The cost to attend the University of Wisconsin Lacrosse will
vary depending on where the information is found. The total in-state cost for attendance at UWL is
between $15,061 and 17,869. The cost for out-of-state attendance is between
22,634 and 25,442. In state tuition costs are 8,769 and out-of-state tuition
costs are 16,342. Room and board will cost students about 6,000 dollars.
The
average number of students who receive financial aid at UWL is 74 percent. In
2012, 71 percent of the students who graduated borrowed money from financial
aid. The low number of students whose needs were fully met financially is
staggering. Only about 17 percent of students got all of the aid that they
needed. The government is helping out less and less. According to Bob Hetzel, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance at UWL, the
state used to pay 60 percent of students’ college costs by tuition subsidy, and
now only 38 percent. The money that college students have to pay out of pocket
has risen from 40 percent to 60 percent for tuition alone. Bob Hetzel believes
that students will soon be paying almost entirely out of pocket with little to
no state help. At some point, students will most likely be paying 90 percent of
their college costs.
Hearing these
numbers is frightening to parents and students. But the truth is that college
students’ needs are less important right now in budget politics. “The needs and
priorities of K-12 school students come first. Road work comes first, health
care comes first, correction centers come first. That is where all the money
goes. There is simply not enough money to go around and have it be distributed
equally. The public is also not willing to pay more sales taxes or income tax,” Hetzel explains.
UWL students are
paying slightly more for differential tuition because the students voted that
they want more teachers. So the teacher to student ratio is outstanding with
more teachers being able to teacher smaller class sizes. But it costs to add
more teachers. The UWL students voted and said they would rather pay a bit
extra in place of having a more quality education. In 2012, the average debt
that UWL graduates had was 24, 863. Bob Hetzel says that the debt has now risen
to about 26,000 dollars. The national average is 28 thousand.
