The Online Reflector

The college graduating class of 2009 faces an unemployment rate of 8.7%, up from 5.8% in 2008, according to the Project on Student Debt referenced in an Oct. 21 press release.

Nationwide, the 2009 class owed an average of $24,000 in student loans.

The disparity in figures is a challenge for current and prospective students, especially considering the recent economic recession.

Emily Musselman, a 2010 University of Indianapolis psychology graduate, recently began repaying her college loans.

“It’s definitely a noticeable impact with the economy the way it is right now,” Musselman said. “My degree wasn’t career specific, so the repayment is significant when compared to my income.”

Linda Handy, UIndy Director of Financial Aid said that students should take small steps to reduce their debt by making a budget and adhering to it.

“It’s just good financial management, and that’s something difficult for students to understand when they haven’t done that in the past,” Handy said. “Like any family, you have to look at your income and what your expenses are, and that remainder is what you can spend.”

Handy said these steps can be taken while students are still in college to offset living expenses.

However, students cannot shoulder all of the blame for college debts.

State government has struggled to provide funds for student education during the recession.

“Education seems to always be the first place they look to make cutbacks,” Handy said. “The more people that you can educate will have higher earning jobs and pay more taxes. It’s a return on an investment.”

With difficulties in acquiring financial aid through scholarships or loans, some students may feel the need to attend more affordable colleges.
While Indiana University has a tuition rate of about $8,200, and UIndy’s is $20,500, the average debt totals for students are comparable; A 2009 IU graduate averaged about $25,500 of debt, while a UIndy graduate averaged about $27,000, a difference of only about $1,500 according to the Project on Student Debt.

Handy said the explanation for the close amounts between a public and private setting is simple: UIndy has made an effort to replace some of the aid money that the state took back.

“I think, unfortunately, we’re topped out now, though,” Handy said. “It’s hard to provide more than we are currently doing.”

For those students who graduate and face those debts, an increase in the unemployment rate can be a roadblock to paying them.

According to Lela Mixon, associate director of career services, the market for entry-level jobs is highly competitive and changing.

“The majority of jobs are found through networking,” Mixon said. “And I still feel like a lot of new professionals respond solely to open applications.”

Ryan Brock, a 2010 pre-theology graduate, has chosen a different work option.

“I have actually started my own business with a few partners and am therefore self-employed,” Brock said.

His start-up company has allowed Brock to extend the grace period of his loan repayment.

“That job doesn’t pay me anything yet and won’t for some time, however, so in my debtor’s eyes I am, for all intents and purposes, unemployed,” Brock said. “Because I don’t get a regular paycheck yet, I was able to defer my loans for an extra six months, which will help. All of this is only possible because I’m married and my wife does not have any loans of her own.”

The couple is working to pay off Brock’s $38,000 in loans ahead of schedule. According to Brock, at the current rate at which he is billed, it would take 10 years to pay off the principal.

Career Services hosts periodic networking opportunities and career recruitment fairs for UIndy students to explore options and begin networking with professionals in their chosen field.

“I switched to psychology from exercise science, so I got that degree in two years and had no time to do an internship,” Musselman said. “I would have done it otherwise. It would have given me more of a specific idea of what I was and wasn’t interested in and given me a chance for networking.”

According to Mixon, recent trend in internship and professional recruitment shows that employers do 65 percent of their recruiting in the fall, unlike past patterns.

“Springtime is pretty much a wrap-up, which is a recent change in trends,” Mixon said.

Career Services moved its annual Internship Recruiting Fair from April to September to help maximize students’ possibilities to locate positions in response to this change.

Internships at Louisiana State University and the local AIT Laboratories opened up professional opportunities for senior Rebekah Nester, a UIndy biology and chemistry double major. She recently received a job offer from AIT. Nester has been dealing with her loans while still in college.

“I have been trying to save money in order to make payments during my grace period, as I have approximately three full years worth of tuition in loans at UIndy,” Nester said.

Brock was initially intimidated by the amount of his loans but has found it manageable.

“When I first got my exit package, it was a little overwhelming because each of those loans seemed to be owned by a different person or agency,” Brock said. “Since then, though, it’s worked out that all of my loans are handled by just two agencies, including Sallie Mae, so I really only have two separate bills to pay now.”

Mixon believes that student awareness of recent developments in employer patterns will help keep them from becoming part of the unemployment statistic.