College students have this incredible opportunity to gain skills, knowledge, connections, and dreams, and open many more doors for themselves, if they take full advantage. But at what cost?
Is it worth accumulating loans that may take a lifetime to pay off? Graduating debt-free means starting life at the surface, but this is not the case for over half of college graduates in Connecticut.
The burden of student loans weighs heavily on minds, bodies, and spirits. Earning a degree is difficult enough without immense financial concerns, like weighing the choice of advancing professional opportunities through an unpaid internship against working tirelessly at a paying job to lessen financial burdens. Imagine trying to swim with weights tied to your ankles. Fighting to stay afloat and sinking deeper with each additional weight, until you can’t seem to get a full breath of air.
As a May 2024 graduate, this has become a time of reflection. My higher education journey looked a little different but was not without financial stress. I moved across the country on an athletic scholarship, but when the university lost its program during the COVID-19 pandemic, I lost the funding promised to me that was central to my decision. My family and I found a way to manage the cost that transferring schools demanded, so that finishing my education was an option, and I never lost sight of that enormous privilege. My development of mind and character during this time alone is one that I wish more than anything could be a universal possibility.
Justice is disappearing with each tuition raise. Less than half of state college funding comes from the state. Due to this lack of support, the only option for school systems is to further deplete students.
The Connecticut State Colleges & Universities Board of Regents has already approved a 5% tuition raise for all state university and college students that will be applied in the ’24-’25 academic year. Not only that, but in a potential agreement with Barnes & Noble, the board is proposing an automatic textbook fee with a premeditatively small window of opportunity to opt out. This hidden cost would take more money from unsuspecting students, under the false premise of making their lives easier.
The start of college is a characteristically exciting and overwhelming experience. Most students would agree that this feeling returns each semester with new demands. Opting out of a surprise textbook fee is unlikely to be on students’ radar or within their knowledge. Especially for those who may be without the assistance of their family and thus those who are likely most financially vulnerable. The period to opt out ends before, I’m sure, many students have opened their Outlook account, much less had the chance to go through their flood of emails.
Finding creative ways to get around the additional cost of course materials is an acquired skill. Often textbooks can be found online for free or even in the campus library. Others resort to sharing textbooks with classmates and splitting the cost. After four years, this textbook fee could pay for at least nine credit hours. It’s another weight tied mercilessly to the ankles of students, so CSCU can pad its own pockets, earning 10% of sales and half a million dollars from this contract.
By the end of what should be this life-changing experience, loans are holding students down from reaching their full potential and excelling in the professional world.
A recent conversation I had with a fellow graduating senior illuminated a crucial factor that is preventing problem solving. I casually shared my knowledge of the impending tuition raise, and the response was, “good thing we’re getting out of here then.”
While a sense of relief does not always deserve to be accompanied with guilt, this interaction serves as a reminder that people will only care about situations of injustice that directly impact them. This is a failure to empathize with the students whose educations are threatened.
If we are not invested in the fight for social justice, regardless of our personal stakes, then nothing will change. People will continue to suffer at the hands of these rigged systems that impact potential and power. So, please join me in urging the Board of Regents and state legislature to stop taking this opportunity away from equally deserving students.
Audrey Arnold is a recent graduate of Southern Connecticut State University.