NORTHAMPTON — The issue of college affordability, particularly with regard to public schools, waltzed into the national spotlight during the 2016 presidential campaign.
But in reality it’s been a festering issue for far longer. By and large, research shows that students across the country who take out loans to finance their educations are graduating with more debt than ever before.
The numbers nationwide are staggering. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, some 44 million borrowers were carrying $1.3 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. alone at the end of 2016. That makes student loan debt the second highest consumer debt category overall, behind only mortgage debt. The figure is so large that Forbes and other news outlets describe the problem as a “crisis.”
And it touches all corners of the country, including in Massachusetts. The majority of students in the Bay State, around 66 percent, who hail from both public and private four-year institutions, will face student loan debt upon graduation, according to the Institute for College Access and Success, a nonprofit that collects national college affordability data.
The state average for student loan debt, according to data from the nonprofit, is about $31,466. That’s almost a 5 percent increase from the 2015 average, which was roughly $30,100 per borrower.
Students are often encouraged to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This option allows students and their parents to configure how much federal aid for which they are eligible, primarily based on financial need.
But borrowing money, tied to hefty interest rates, from the government to finance a college education could yield “tragic consequences” for the student in the long run, Sheila Bair, president of Washington College, told Time Money last month.
Instead, she’s come up with a scenario in which students would borrow money interest-free and pay it back with future income.
In the Time Money interview (http://time.com/money/4652567/sheila-bair-student-loans/), Bair explained the method, which is also known as income share agreements, like this:
“It automatically adjusts with the student’s income, so it is always affordable,” she said. “It relieves financial distress.”
Bair also oversaw the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from 2006 until 2011.
But those daunting figures aren’t deterring students like Juhi Dasrath, 20, a University of Massachusetts Amherst junior, who said she’s paying her way through college.
Dasrath, who is originally from the Caribbean but moved with her family to Springfield in 2012, started her college career at that time at Springfield Technical Community College. She earned an associate’s degree there by the summer of 2014 and started at UMass in the fall of 2015, she said, where she’s studying journalism.
Before UMass, she graduated with high honors at STCC where she was also class speaker and student body president. To ease the financial burden of tuition on her family, Dasrath worked Friday nights and double shifts on Saturdays and Sundays as a restaurant server.
“I saved every dollar that I had,” Dasrath said. “How I paid for (STCC) was I got a lot of financial aid … what wasn’t covered by financial aid, I was paying out of pocket.”
When determining where she would attend college, she added, “price was a big issue for me.”
Originally, Dasrath was intent on pursuing her degree in Boston, either attending Boston University or Emerson College — both of which she was admitted to, she said.
When it came to deciding between a private education in Boston or a public education here in the Valley, the price tag was the greatest deterrent.
“It was (either) go to a good university and pay $30,000 out of pocket, or go to a very good university and pay next to nothing out of pocket,” Dasrath said.
Dasrath, who will be the first person in her immediate family to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, originally insisted to her parents that she wanted to finance her education on her own — at least at first.
“I wouldn’t say I grew up frugal, I grew up smart. Any way I can save money, I did,” she said. “I was very bent on starting it on my own, and my mom is very adamant on helping me once I’m done. She said every dollar I put toward my loans, she would match.”
Come time for graduation next spring, Dasrath said she is expecting loans totaling between $9,000 and $10,000.
“But $10,000 is still a lot of money to pay for an education,” she said. “I value every single thing I’m learning at UMass. It’s worth every dollar.”
Catherine McGraw is the director for the College Counseling Office at the Williston Northampton School. Although the primary focus of her duties do not relate directly to advising on financing one’s college education, she said cost remains an important point in considering school choices.
“It’s certainly always an important part of the decision and the process to be considering affordability,” McGraw said. “It’s more important than ever to pay attention to financial aid application deadlines when applying to college. Different colleges will have different deadlines, and they don’t necessarily align with the admissions application deadline.”
McGraw also said families might consider establishing 529 plans, which are tax-advantaged savings plans specifically designed to help folks set aside money for college costs. These plans are available in most states, including Massachusetts.
“It’s become a very standard way to save for college,” McGraw said.
Like Dasrath, Cecilia Van Driesche is taking steps to try and reduce her student loans as much as possible.
Van Driesche, 33, of Conway, is in her second year of pursuing a double major — biology and math — at Smith College. The mother of two young girls is positioning herself to attend nursing school after her anticipated Spring 2018 graduation.
Van Driesche said she is working toward becoming a hospice nurse. To finance her education, Van Driesche took out federal loans and was also awarded various grants from Smith.
The program offers non-traditional college students flexible scheduling for their course loads and special academic advising, according to the college’s website.
When all is said and done, Van Driesche said she is expecting to have to pay back between $5,000 and $7,000.
“It was not clear to me that I would get into a place like Smith, but I got in which is amazing,” she said. “I hadn’t previously been willing to go into debt, but I realized it was worth it. I was willing to go into debt to get the education that I wanted. That being said, I have incredible financial aid here at Smith.”
Van Driesche graduated from Amherst Regional High School 16 years ago and moved to Blue Hill, Maine, where she briefly attended College of the Atlantic.
“When it came time to sign my loan notice, that was a big deterrent,” Van Driesche said. Wary of accruing significant student debt, Van Driesche said she decided school at the time wasn’t for her. She reveled in pride she felt in being financially independent from her family and working a job at a local co-op, where she eventually became a manager.
When Van Driesche decided she was going to become a nurse some years later, however, she wanted to earn a bachelor’s degree so that she would be eligible for even more jobs.
“Having all this work and life experience was paramount,” she said. “I do feel like, being a non-traditional student, the fear of debt is just not there.”
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.