Interest rates deter students from taking loans

Guethshina Altena/Asst. News Director

 

In recent years, about 70 percent of students graduated with student loans according to a U.S. News article.

Mithra Chrysostome, a senior majoring in recreational therapy, started taking out loans in fall 2015 when she started at the University as a transfer student.

“I think in the long run, taking student loans is an investment. When it’s for a degree and major that you want to do then it’s definitely worth it. Though it’s beneficial, paying not back is not always ideal” Chrysostome said.

Chrysostome believes that since federals loans are debt money that students are gonna have to pay back after graduation, it is important that they take out as the smallest amount possible and only when the situation requires it.

“My first year in college in Miami Dade, I took short term loans, which was not a lot of money and I was able to pay it off by the end of the semester. Which is what I recommend people to do if they can because that is a good way to use loans but not get overwhelmed with the debt.”

Chrysostome believes student loans can be treated the same as credit cards. The money is available if need be but it’s better not to use it unless it’s absolutely necessary. Thus, one can avoid paying back a larger amount than they would have if they borrowed less.

“At the end of the day, you will have to pay back all the amount that you take” She said “When applying for loans remember to only take the portion that you need to pay for your college expenses and not necessarily the whole amount offered” Chrysostome said

Vicky Emile a junior psychology major who is currently a peer advisor at the Orientation and Parent Programs at the University. She believes that paying back loans can be a difficult challenge that she plans to avoid as much as possible.

“I feel like student loans would be a really last options for me,” Emile said. “Though it would be an investment in my future, I would prefer finding alternative ways to pay for my education,” Emile said.

Emile said that when taking out loans, whether it is subsidized or unsubsidized by the government, the principal amount borrowed increases over the years as the interest rates accumulate and one might end up paying twice the amount that they borrowed in the first place. Loans subsided by the government are better though, because the students doesn’t have to pay the interest back until six month after their college graduation.

“Even with scholarship opportunities, I feel like the University [FIU] does not offer enough for all students of different major,” Emile said. “A lot of the ones I see are for Hospitality majors, although there a few scholarships for other majors, I think that the rest of the students need more options to afford their college expenses as well.”

Nenchyna Valme is a Sophomore majoring in Nursing. Her belief is that student loans are important for those who cannot afford college any other way.

“We all need to go to school and sometimes loans may be the last resource for some people who do not have the means to pay for college,” Valme said  “Though I have been fighting not to take out loans, I understand that people have different financial situations.”

She says that the University could help by providing more grant and scholarship opportunities for their students and making sure that they are all aware of these options.

“I wouldn’t recommend anyone to take student loans, just because it gets hard and challenging to pay back a larger amount than you borrowed,” she said.

“I think people should always look further, deeper for other possible choices and only borrow the money when they feel it is absolutely necessary,” Valme said.

 

 

Image by 401k(2012), retrieved from Flickr: