College Debt: Losing Faith in the Golden State

Currently in my second year of my Masters program at San Francisco State University (SFSU), I'm finding it very hard, if not impossible, to finish my degree without drowning in debt. Being a San Francisco Bay Area native, I take great pride in California's state public university system; however, I am quickly losing faith in the Golden State.

In 2006, I graduated from SFSU with a B.A. in English Literature and soon after I was lucky enough to get hired at a startup internet advertising firm. Racking up around $5k in credit card debt and about $10k in student loan debt from my undergrad education, my goal was to get it paid off as soon as possible. Luckily, because my first job out of college paid me well, I was able to pay off the credit cards within two years and start to pay off my student loan. That all changed when I decided to go back to school to get my M.A. in Environmental Communication at the beginning of 2009 - just as the recession was beginning to take hold. With my little savings, and deciding to take out student loans for the duration of my M.A. degree, I again enrolled at SFSU to pursue a career in public service.

Jump ahead to now, and I am again swimming in debt. Along with the student loans from my undergrad, the credit cards that I have run up buying books and supplies, and the student loans I have maxed out for my M.A., I'm on track to have at least $40k of combined debt. I've searched high and low for grants and scholarships, but have yet to find any that I am viable for applying for. How is it that I am going back to school to better my community and there are no grants or scholarships available? I've taken on teaching a low-level college course, but will have to take a second job just to keep a roof over my head. I have a feeling that the retirement fund that I started building up while I was employed might get dipped into.

Politics and financial crisis aside, California needs to rethink its priorities. We are so busy worrying about what is happening now, that we are forgetting about our future leaders. My voice, dreams and goals are being stifled by my states inability to make education a priority. Instead, we are taking money from our schools and sending it to our prisons. We live in a culture where college is almost a requirement to be taken seriously and legitimately, yet it's still impossible for most to get there alone without going into massive debt. It's sad that I'm grateful I will only be $40k in debt when all is said and done. What about everyone else?

 

Comments

[corwin]

04:18 PM on 02/27/2010

There's no nice way to call one a fool. You've majored in areas that have little in the way of concrete ,marketable skills, and desire employment in an area (government aka public service ) which is being shrunk by your state. You needn't major in accounting or nursing, but also needn't take classwork in areas that have no possiblity of employment .And,what is environmental COmmunication ?

[KJLSanDiego]

01:15 PM on 02/23/2010

I was lucky to attend SDSU when semester tuition was still under 2K. With the help of my dear mom, who planned ahead and saved for us, I was able to make it through debt free. I will say that going to school full time while working full time is not ideal, but if you do have support, put your pride aside and take it. We all pulled together as a family, and when my parents are elderly, I plan on supporting them as well as, if not better than, they have supported me. But not everyone is as lucky, I know this. Hopefully, if you have had to truck along without support, you will be there for your own kids someday so that they have it easier.

[AnotherunhappyDemocrat]

11:56 AM on 02/23/2010

As an ex-Californian, who benefitted heavily from the higher ed system when it was ridiculously cheap (and who had to leave the state to find a viable job in my field), I truly feel for you. California is screwed up on so many levels, one of which is that your generation will not get the same generous benefits that we did. Good luck to you.

[cloudminder]

06:18 PM on 02/22/2010

# UC regents award huge pay increases to execs while furloughing staff (2009)
# Audit finds excessive expenses by CSU and UC Senior Administrator (2009)
# POGO praises U.S. Senator Grassley for raising concerns about integrity of finances at UC (2009)
# Yakuza Mob and UCLA Med Center on CBS "60 Minutes" by Lara Logan (2009)
# UC San Diego Data Security Hotline Swamped (2009)
# UC Irvine to fire whistleblower nurse?! (2009)
# New UC Davis Chancellor Linked to "Clout" Admissions Probe (2009)
# UC San Francisco belatedly announces September data breach (2009)
# A Tangled Web At Berkeley by UC Santa Cruz Professor John Ellis (2009)
# UC Berkeley Journalism Students Data Breached (2009)

[cloudminder]

06:18 PM on 02/22/2010

if you had faith and pride in CA public educational system -- then you have not been paying attention to the headlines, here are the headlines on UC and they are similar to the headlines for Cal State:

# Operational Mediocrity- Daily Californian (2010)
# UC regents Schwarzenegger and Wachter – are they making a profit from university investments? (2010)
# Schwarzenegger vetoes whistleblower protections for UC workers (2010)
# UCLA consultant involved in accounting scandal (2010)
# More Scandals Uncovered at UC, Yee Requests State Audit (2010)
# UC Admits Misleading Public About Senior Executive Buyout Taker (2009)
# List of Salaries of UC Highest Paid Employees (2009)
# UC regents OK millions in incentive pay to top execs (2010)
# UC Boss Mark Yudof's Case Against Himself (2009)
# U.S. Senator Grassley Raises Concerns About Integrity of Finances at University of California System (2009)

http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/