OPIRG Report Could Mean Reality Check For Borrowers
Survey Says Cost of College Loans Underestimated by Most Students

BY BILL LASCHER

Another day older and deeper in debt?
College students across the country, including many at Oberlin, may not realize just how true this could be for them. According to a report just released by the Public Interest Research Group’s national body, nearly four-fifths of all students surveyed underestimated the cost of their loans by an average of $4,846.
The report, entitled “Big Loans, Bigger Problems: A Report on the Sticker Shock of Student Loans” claimed that many students are forced to take out loans to be able to afford a college education. “Grants are not keeping pace with the rising cost of higher education, and students are becoming increasingly dependent on loans to pay for college,” it said.
Oberlin’s PIRG chapter conducted surveys last semester that contributed to the pool of data collected by the national staff. Only Clark University and the University of Massachusetts at Boston submitted more responses to the survey than Oberlin. Senior Ellen Montgomery, the group’s liaison, said students are starting to be more interested in working on the issue.
“We’re using this report as an opportunity to inform students of the risks going on with loans,” she said. “We are releasing it to help us educate students.”
Despite the findings of the report, the issue of student loans is not one of the major priorities for OPIRG. “It’s not something we can run a full-semester campaign on,” Montgomery said.
However, she is enthusiastic about publicizing the findings of the report, and she encouraged students who have questions about the cost of their loans to contact her office, where they have a full time staff working on issues relating to the cost of education.
The study focused on a number of different areas, such as how well students understood the effect of interest on their loan payments, how well they were able to estimate their income after graduation and their understanding of repayment options.
The more debt students surveyed held, the more likely they were to underestimate its extent. Those with less than $15,000 in debt, the survey showed, only underestimated the cost by an average of $1,387 while it was underestimated by $7,189 for those with $30,000 in debt.
Some respondents had no clue at all how much their loans cost. “These students could not have borrowed according to what they thought they would be able to repay,” the report said. “Rather, they borrowed without any understanding of the total cost of their loans and without a plan to repay their loans.”
Junior Chad Maron is a computer science major who has taken out student loans to help pay his way through school. He said he is aware of the amount he will have to pay after school. “I do know,” he said. “But I’m a CS major so I’m not worried.” 
However, he added that he may experience some of the sticker shock mentioned in the report. “I might just be doe-eyed,” he said.