College Grads Staring At Piles Of Debt

Jake Bemis will have a lot on his plate after he graduates from college with a communications degree this month.

The University of Northern Iowa senior is looking for a full- time job and is getting married this summer.

He will bring $60,000 in college debt to that union.

"I don't come from a family full of money, and I work a lot of jobs," said Bemis, 23, explaining how he accumulated his debt, "but it's all for'in-the-now.'"

Plenty of pending graduates on Iowa college campuses feel the same way. The time to pay the bills will come soon enough.

Problem is, many are not ready to pay.

"I've had students (say),'I didn't know I had any loans,'" said Julie Dunn, director of financial planning at Loras College.

Her usual response: "Well, yes you do, and here they are, and we will probably need to meet individually to talk about your situation so that you fully understand."

Last year, 287 of Loras'317 graduates – 91 percent – had college debt, at an average of $31,571, according to Iowa College Student Aid Commission data.

That is on par with the state's small colleges and universities. Three of every four students graduating from a not-for-profit private college in Iowa in 2013 owed an average $31,497, the data show.

The averages ranged from $8,777 at Divine Word College, a Roman Catholic seminary in Epworth graduating six people, to $40,700 at University of Dubuque and Buena Vista University, in Storm Lake. At UD, 71 percent of the 304 graduates left school last year with debt, while 89 percent of Buena Vista's graduates had debt, student aid commission figures reveal.

Six of every 10 students graduating from Iowa's three public universities in 2013 owed, on average, $28,293 when they picked up their degrees, the data show. Nine of every 10 graduating from the state's three private for-profit colleges owed an average $23,485.

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ashe, who is to graduate from the University of Iowa this month with a degree in cinema and comparative literature and a certificate in entrepreneurial management, is among those conceding he needs to figure out how to pay his college-related debt.

Ashe, carrying debt of $26,000 to $27,000, said he first wants to travel in Europe for a couple of weeks this summer before landing a job. He acknowledges those plans put him at a disadvantage when it comes to his job hunt.

"A lot of employers, you know, when they're looking for people to hire, they're just kind of like,'You know, we need you here this date. " When can you start?'" said Ashe, 22, originally from Naperville, Ill.

An April IowaWatch survey of 671 students at the state's three public universities showed the students evenly split when it comes to worrying about their job prospects after graduation. The margin of error for that specific question was 4.2 percentage points.

The biggest concern of those worried about getting work after graduation was finding a job in their field of study. Students were less worried about finding a job with good pay, but few thought they could get a job in less than one month.

The common theme among students who said they were not worried about their job prospects is that they already have lined up a job.

DEBT GROWS FOR SOME DESPITE HELP

College debt has accumulated even for students who work and get financial help from their families, interviews at selected campuses in the state revealed.

Bemis has worked three part-time jobs while in college, and his parents helped pay his tuition. It wasn't enough. A fifth-year senior, he has taken loans for about $10,000 each year. After he graduates, an $11,000 loan his parents took will transfer to him.

For now, he's planning on setting budgets and diving into the search for a full-time job. It's a process that, at the end of his college studies, has him wondering.

"I appreciate the five years I've had here, but I feel like what a lot of employers look for are skills that you don't really learn in college," Bemis said.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports median weekly earnings for workers with college degrees exceeding the pay of those without.

The median weekly income for U.S. workers with a bachelor's degree was $1,108 in 2013, up significantly from $651 for workers with only a high school diploma. It also was significantly more than the $727 for workers with some college but no degree and $777 for workers with an associate's degree.

Moreover, the labor statistics show, the unemployment rate in 2013 diminished greatly with each increasing level of education, from 7 percent for U.S. workers with some college to 4 percent for those with a bachelor's degree.

Drake University senior Mary Kate Wachtel is taking the broadcast news journalism degree she is to receive this spring to a job as news producer at WDAF, a Kansas City, Mo., television station. Wachtel received help from her adviser, professor John Lytle, who is friends with a news anchor at WDAF and who helped her snag an internship at the station after her sophomore year.

"I wouldn't have gotten that position without Lytle, and that's what's really kind of helped me," said Wachtel, 22.

MANAGING THE DEBT

Loans are not bad, university and college financial aid advisers say, but students should be deliberate about what they borrow and plan ways to pay it off.

"They should try to only borrow for educational costs such as tuition, room and board or books," said Roberta Johnson, Iowa State University's director of financial aid.

Randal Short said he hopes to become a police officer or paralegal after graduating from William Penn University, in Oskaloosa. Short, 22, who left home in Orlando, Fla., to attend William Penn for a degree in pre-law and history, said he graduated with about $4,000 in college debt. "Once I am employed, I plan on paying it off rather quickly," he said.

Russ Gossen, 22, was hoping to land a good job within six months of graduating from Loras College this month because that is when he has to start paying off debt in excess of $15,000. He was not worried.

"Once I start getting bills, I know how to pay a bill," said Gossen, a public relations and media studies major from New Lenox, Ill. "I've been doing that for four years now."