Schools Must Help On Student Debt
Thank you for highlighting an important issue impacting college students in today’s tough job market (“Salary Penalty,” Dec. 19, 2011). There is no question that college students must be given the tools they need to borrow responsibly, and to understand what it takes to manage financial aid debt. Just as students have a responsibility to repay their loans, colleges and universities have a responsibility to help prepare their students to do so.
University of Phoenix takes this responsibility seriously. Last year, the university launched a free, three-week orientation course, which is mandatory for incoming students with little or no college experience. In this course, potential students are exposed to a variety of topics, including financial literacy and responsible borrowing, before they enroll. Each of our incoming students is also assigned a specific counselor who walks them through the entire financial aid process and counsels them to borrow only what they need to finance their education. As a result of these efforts and others, we have seen the number of students who take out the maximum loan amount drop by approximately 30 percent and our student retention continues to improve.
These steps will not by themselves solve the broader problem. Ultimately, all schools need to do a better job helping students graduate and avoid default. We believe this is a great start though, and the results are extremely encouraging.
Charlie Nguyen
Territory Vice President
University of Phoenix
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments