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College aid an expensive lesson photo by Jim Craven Brian Foren helps with an art activity at the YMCA after-school program at Helman Elementary School in Ashland, where he works to support himself through college. He has worked up to three jobs at a time to keep himself debt-free. Other SOU students, however, may find themselves up to $50,000 in debt by the time they're through. Financial disclosure forms open the doors to `a complex world' By John Darling for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND -- College, which was affordable with a part-time job just a generation ago, now is a staggering journey into debt that starts with something called the FAFSA. College-bound seniors seeking federal loans or work-study jobs must fill out the 104 detailed questions on the FAFSA -- Free Application for Federal Student Aid -- and send it to the feds first thing in the January preceding their first fall term. The feds respond by sending them (and the colleges they list) an SAR -- Student Aid Report -- saying how much loan money they're eligible for and, if they're under 24, how much their parents are expected to pay. "The FAFSA is the gateway, because all the federal money is awarded through it," said Constance Alexander, director of Financial Aid at Southern Oregon University. It's vital that students file FAFSA quickly, she said, and list all possible colleges they might go to "because March 1 is the cutoff for first consideration for all the good stuff. There are always more students than money." The federal government offers $40 billion in student aid, including Pell Grants for low-income students, the Direct Loan, Stafford loans, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the 5 percent Perkins Loans for undergraduates, the Parent-Plus Loan -- under which parents may borrow money in their names at 9 percent interest -- and the old standby Work-Study Program, in which students work on campus or in the community with the feds paying part of their salary. "It's not the world I knew, where you could work summers and save enough for tuition and expenses," said Alexander. "Students today live in a very complex world, juggling school, family, job and loans. "They pay for college about the same amount their parents paid for their first home, but they're not scared of high debt levels. Studies show they're going to earn $200,000 more over their lives if they have a degree, so they just see it as a means to an end." The last time federal government grants kept pace with education costs was in the late 1970s during the Carter administration, she said. "Taxpayers won't support it. Congress won't either. The attitude now is: Hey, it's your choice, you're going to benefit from it, so you pay for it." Alexander pulled out an "aid offer" letter from SOU to a typical student. It displayed expenses, including tuition, books, room and board, transportation and spending money, totaling $11,046. Deducted from this was the expected "parental contribution," based on the family's income, and the "student contribution" -- income the student can earn, totaling $1,315. That left a "need" of $9,731, which came from Pell, a State Need Grant, a Federal Educations Opportunity Grant, Work-Study, a Federal Perkins loan and a Federal Direct Loan. A few students, like SOU senior Brian Foren, work up to three jobs to stay debt-free through college. But for others at SOU, it's common to report a $20,000 to $50,000 debt for a bachelor's degree. Many students are turning to the rapidly growing number of scholarships, said Sherrill Kirchhoff, director of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, which serves as gateway to 165 scholarships worth $6 million a year. Students may research scholarships online (osac.state.or.us) and apply electronically for as many as 12 at once, she said. OSAC software allows students to quickly search which categories they fall into: for example, children of union members, graduates of a certain high school or single mothers. Oregon is the only state, she added, that offers a one-stop scholarship cybermall. About 25 percent of new applicants are awarded some type of scholarship -- 40 percent if you include renewing scholars. OSAC, formerly the State Scholarship Commission, also gives out $16 million in State Need Grants to low-income Oregon residents. "I've received just about all of the loans, plus the Pell Grant and State Need Grant," said SOU senior Sarah Michel, Eagle Point, a history major and single mother. "I'll graduate with a $30,000 debt. It's very depressing to have it hanging over my head. I greatly regret not researching scholarships, but at least the end is near." Darlene Carter, a junior in physical education, received the Pell, State Need Grant and Work-Study. She'll graduate $40,000 in the red. "It makes me nervous to be that deep in debt, but it's what makes the opportunity possible. It really gives me incentive to do well in school and get a good job." Andrew Greely, a sophomore in theater from San Carlos, Calif., said he's $20,000 in debt now because most of his family's required $15,000 contribution didn't come. "I'm lucky to get a couple thousand from them," he said. His plan? "Go in debt now and worry about it after I graduate." He'll earn good money in computer networking, he said, and then get back to his true love -- theater -- which doesn't pay that well. "The whole scene is untenable," he said. "It's very distressing and doesn't allow for everyone to get the education they need and deserve. We're creating a society like Argentina, which has rich and poor and no one in between." But not everyone thinks debt is the price of a degree. Foren, who is studying theater at SOU, said he got through college without any red ink because he's Irish-American and doesn't believe in debt. "I don't buy needless things, I don't charge on credit cards, I work three jobs and try to get eight to nine dollars an hour and I study hard. It takes great dedication. I have a 3.4 GPA. Anyone can do it. You work and work and you never give up. That's the flip side to the student debt story." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA