College students in Maryland left school last year with more debt than ever before, according to a new report released Thursday.
The average college graduate in Maryland had $21,750 in student loan debt in 2010, according to the report by the Institute for College Access & Success’ Project on Student Debt, a nine percent increase from the year before.
The increase in student debt comes as salaries for new graduates have stagnated, making it difficult for them to pay back loans, said Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of FinAid and FastWeb, which tracks the student loan industry.
“Students are being asked to pay back more debt on the same salaries,” he said.
Though student loan debt in Maryland increased sharply, graduates in the state are better off than students in most other states, the report found. Maryland had the 18th lowest average student debt in the country.
But the student debt load in is increasing much faster in Maryland than in the United States as a whole. Nationally, the average debt was $25,250 in 2010, a five percent bump from the year before.
The actual average student loan debt in Maryland could be higher, as some schools do not submit complete data on graduate debt to the institute, Kantrowitz said.
Kantrowitz said he believes the average nationwide student debt will continue to increase for the next two years. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, he projected that graduates in 2012 will average $28,720 in debt.
Eric Kozlik, a graduate student at the University of Maryland who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in May 2011, said he did not know why debt does not bother more students. He said he wants to make sure he leaves school prepared to reduce his debt.
“I’m going to keep playing this game until I have enough education to have a comfortable job where I can pay my loans off,” he said.
The Project on Student Debt began publishing its annual report on student borrowing in 2005. The institute sends out surveys to non-profit, four-year private and public schools.
Lauren Asher, the president of the Institute for College Access & Success, said the increasing debt levels should not discourage someone from pursuing a degree.
“If you borrow in federal loans, even this average debt number can remain manageable,” she said.
Bob Garson says
More debt “THEN” ever?……………..HELLLLLLLLLPP!
Joe Diamond says
Probably the same level………..when I was in college beer was less than two dollars a six pack, gas was about a buck / gallon or less & credit hours at MD colleges were about thirty bucks. So if ya adjust up for inflation (my first coke out of a machine was a nickel)……..ya come to about the same costs.
But what is really screwing this year / class is……….their degrees are impossible to sell. The Occupy Wall Street types are unemployed kids who did their homework every night, said yes sir to everyone and ate their vegies without question. There is nothing for them or the class before them to do because the old farts with old experience have not left the building yet.
They have big degrees, big debt and are better qualified than ever to take the burger flipping jobs and clerk the goods jobs away from the kids who never did homework, said fuck you to everyone and threw their vegies at passing teachers or parents.
The next few years should be an interesting ride.
Joe
Joe Diamond says
Oh yeah, and the other thing………..I drift
THEN = at that time
THAN = used after a comparative adjective…eg= Maryland students have more debt THAN ever.
But I still advise folks to do their (not there) best with the language they choose to use. Smarting off to a boss about grammar (not grammer) and punctuation will not advance you in the firm. Remember that language is what you make it….folks will figger it oud perty mugh.
Joe
Jack Offett says
Mr. Diamond:
I am not sure that every person every person who works in fast food in Kent spent their youth saying “fuck you” (now approved Spy language) and throwing vegie (sic).
I know that this sort of elitism view may be prevalent elsewhere (ie PA) but sometimes here in the country students are not inspired to think “big”, be it uninspiring educators, parents with low expectations, or circumstances. Non-farm jobs (now gone) have never been the objective of government leaders in Kent County. Too much job competition causes too much inspiration and raises wages. In Kent and Queen Anne’s we prefer to export the best and brightest, but those who remain are not all juvenile delinquents.
Change your attitude Joe: Be a job creator, not a local trasher.
As for the “Occupy” kids, I support their right to protest, but I wonder why these brilliant kids, supported by their wonderful parents, don’t get “off their asses” and make work for themselves. The big banks have all the money because it flows upwards — mostly from folks who spent their lives in government and other “marching and chowder” jobs pouring their nickels in every year. Based on the latest AARP ad, these same folks are going to let the country sink rather than give up what their pensions managers and the big banks have not either squandered or skimmed. Who are the “bright” ones in that equation? The ones who were bright enough to pass the test to government/cog in the wheel employment?
But you don’t hear us downing this group, the children of our “Greatest Generation” who have turned out for the most part to be the generation of the greatest moochers. Your contribution is this trash talk elitism, often cloaked in the name of conservation, though what are we conserving . . . not the locals and their future.
Your mocking is dangerous. Next you will start passing out the label “pigeon” English.
Let’s focus on the bigger issues, unless local class warfare is your goal. You will lose. I doubt you will pay enough to law enforcement and the fire service in Kent County to stop real social warfare if it errupts.
Joe Diamond says
Ok Jack,
I can restate my position again and this time try not to offend those who don’t deserve it.
What I wanted to communicate was that the Occupy Wall Street folks, while being everything you described, also are the ones who conformed and achieved within the system. The system now says thanks but we have enough and don’t need you. This is something new. They want the reward they feel they have earned and it is just not there.
I wanted to contrast them with those who rejected conformity early on. Within their ranks are many truly great independent minds. It has been a great waste that without credentials they have been side stepped. I suspect I described 1% of all kids to make a simple point and did not mean to slam the others who, without GED, BS, BA or similar status who are not considered for advancement.
I wish you were wrong about exporting our best and brightest but you are correct and it saddens me. The kids that leave may not be as good or bright as the ones who stick around but they are the ones with the formal education.
Finally, I tried the job creation thing once and didn’t do aso well. I have the greatest respect for anyone who can meet a payroll and make a profit. I did notice a never ending parade of people willing to work below cost “off the books” for “cash under the table” and this put an end to my little service business. I didn’t do many things well enough.
I will study what you said and thanks for the thoughtful response,
Joe
Andrew Thomas says
Jack, Isn’t it a bit hypocritical to accuse someone of being an elitist while implying your better than the whole state of Pennsylvania? Hello pot, meet kettle.
While I agree that most people around my age, 28, aren’t the most motivated and look to blame their shortcomings on everyone else but themselves, but you act like this is solely a trait for my generation. Every generation has its faults, and every generation is told lies. I feel like the faults of my generation are dependent on the misinformation given to us. We were given our Hulk Hogan values, say your prayers, take your vitamins, and stay in school. While this is not bad advice, we were told that if you do all this and get a college education, your life will be amazing. As you can see from the “Occupy” movement, this is far from the case. Education needs to be a bigger part of this country, and all these banks that are just profiting off of the youth of America for wanting the best out of life are just parasites. They feed off of desperate youth, most just turning 18, and put them in debt before they really know what debt is.
Also, by the time your child is heading out to college they should understand finances, this is where parents need to be more involved in their education. Stop blaming teachers because you don’t want to involve yourself with YOUR CHILD’S education. It is YOUR CHILD, stop blaming everyone else and take some responsibility. But I’m getting off point…
Our nation should be more focused on making the next generation better than the last. That seems to be what the “Occupy” movement is trying, I use that term very loosely, to say. When latter generations won’t let the younger, better, more educated workers use their skills and get out of the way, it creates discontent. The banks need to stop seeing dollar signs when they see hopeful college students, and think of them as an investment in America. Maybe I was a bit premature in calling the banks parasites, parasites are a small entity that latches on to a host to feed. The banks are predators, bullies, praying on the youth of this country. Many my age couldn’t see it while going through college, and wonder why this was allowed to happen. Now I am the one who put myself in this position, and my college debt is my own, but there needs to be more put in place so this doesn’t happen to further generations.
Joe Diamond says
Andrew. I get what you mean:
My father and grandfather came to the USA after WW!………….the English bastards wouldn’t let my father into their universities because all the ” Popish” seats were filled by the sons of rich (Protestant) men………even though my grandfather was a wounded and decorated soldier in the English army.
My father and uncles fought in WW II instead of going to college.
I was the first in my family to graduate from college……..(TSU “72)…..but during that period many, many potential employers told me they were not going to invest training space on new hires who were still liable for DRAFT call ups ( for Viet Nam).
And now I am an old fart. But my son joined the USAF after his third year in college. While he didn’t share his plans with me……….I think he was looking at what you mention. Seeing recent graduates groping for engineering jobs he just joined the war industry.
I have decided that the promise that if you work hard and get a good education good things will follow…….might be expressed another way. I wish I could give a good summary…that is where my thinking stops.
Perhaps:……The “A” students go to graduate school and fight among themselves for professional placements.
The “B” students end up working for the “C” students.
And it is the “C” students who have all the connections with the “D” students. The “D” students have
all the practical street smarts and can deal the work to folks who were nice to them coming up.
As Red Green said: “Were all in this together.”
Joe