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It’s often the most daunting debate in earning a degree: How much debt will I have to incur?
In recent years, data has become abundant, most recently in a report from LendEDU, a 3-year-old marketplace for private loans, loan refinancing and consolidation. Some numbers:
• Average debt for the Class of 2016 was $27,975. Average in Pennsylvania was $35,185.
• Average debt for Luzerne County’s three main private institutions was: King’s College, $37,874; Misericordia, $42,686; Wilkes University, $43,241.
• Average debt for local Penn State campuses: Wilkes-Barre, $35,984; Hazleton, $43,579.
• Average debt for other area private schools: Bloomsburg University, $36,915; Marywood, $42,603. (The University of Scranton wasn’t on the list.)
But local college and university officials are always eager to point out a few facts of their own, the biggest of which is return on investment. In a written statement, Wilkes University President Patrick Leahy noted: “We firmly believe that education is the best investment a person can make. The value of a Wilkes degree continues to pay off during our graduates’ lifetime. Our debt satisfaction rates are very high because of these good professional outcomes.
King’s College President Rev. John Ryan similarly called college “the most important investment a family will make for its children,” and argued the study shows, as others have, that King’s allows “students to complete a degree with a relatively smaller debt amount.”
Being fiscally prudent while providing financial aid means “the average level of student debt for King’s students is far below that of students at schools with lower tuition costs,” Ryan said in a written statement.
Misericordia President Thomas Botzman put some numbers to the notion: A college grad can expect to make at least $800,000 more than someone with a high school degree.
“It’s even higher in some fields, like medicine,” he said, with lifetime salaries as much as four or five times higher than with a high school diploma.
Botzman summarized other key points regularly cited by area college and university officials with similar data.
• Most local schools offer substantial financial aid, in part to serve a large percentage of students who are first in their family to attend college. “One-third of our students are first-time, first-year students,” Botzman said.
• Local schools, particularly the private ones, boast of low student-faculty ratios.
“We average about 14 students per faculty, and work to provide greater real-world experience as part of the education through community and clinical opportunities,” Botzman said. “If you are going to work in an emergency room, we want you to go there knowing what you are doing.”
• Local schools look for ways to lower costs, including partnering with Luzerne County Community College so students can spend the first two years of a four-year degree at the lower-cost public school. Another way is partnering with higher-ed institutions so students can switch to them for a final year or two and a higher degree in a shorter amount of time.
“You also need to consider the private good and the public good,” Botzman said.
The region and nation often need people with specialized training — including social workers, therapists and nurses — that require college degrees, he said.
“If a student gets locked out of school due to high debt, it hurts all of us,” Botzman said.
Wilkes’ Leahy echoed the sentiment.
“It is our duty to answer a nationwide call for more college graduates. That means continuing to educate students of high financial need, as well as those who are the first in their family to earn a college degree.”
Area schools also have pushed to get more undergraduates doing research, something larger schools reserve only for grad students. Leahy has made it a point to tout Wilkes research programs frequently in recent years.
In March, school officials hosted what they hope will be the first of annual Scholarship Symposiums, spending three days presenting information on research work and findings.
And while Botzman conceded the new generation of students expect more amenities like Wi-Fi service and diverse eatery options, he dismissed the notion that colleges have pushed up prices while catering to non-education demands.
Providing research opportunities, community service options, overseas travel and online education options all can drive up costs, but “If that’s an arms race, I hope it’s an arms race we don’t lose,” Botzman said.
The bottom line? Return on investment, Botzman said.
“Consider that $40,000 of debt is $1,000 a year for 40 years, but the earning potential over that time is $1 million more. To me it is more tragic if a student doesn’t graduate or is cut off from college altogether because of fear of debt.”
