By: Editorial Team

Recently, The Journal came across an article by The Oregonian that discussed national rankings of colleges by U.S. News & World Report. The article highlighted multiple Oregon schools and their impressive rankings, but unfortunately also noted the not-so-positive results in Oregon as well.

Western Oregon University arrived on the list at number five for Western schools in the country with the highest average debt upon graduation. The numbers were staggering: “68 percent of students graduated with debt, which averages $38,331 among those who took out loans,” according to the article on oregonlive.com.

With an overall lower tuition rate than local universities, such as University of Oregon (UO) and Oregon State University (OSU), the average debt was shocking. Western’s in-state tuition and fees, according to U.S. News & World Report 2014-2015, is $8,796, UO is $9,918 and OSU is $10,107.

To put the debt average into perspective, 50 percent of UO graduating students (receiving their undergrad) who borrowed had an average debt of $24,508, nearly $14,000 less than the average Western student. And 58 percent of graduating students at OSU who borrowed had an average debt of $21,955, nearly $16,000 less than the average Western student, according to statistics from U.S. News & World Report.

With such substantial differences in debt among state universities, are there more factors that contribute to students leaving our college with a larger debt than students who leave a more expensive university with a lower average debt?

Additional expenses apart from tuition

Tuition and fees just make up the base of a student’s expenses. According to Dr. David McDonald, Western’s Associate Provost, “For the typical WOU student, tuition and fees account for less than half their college expenses.”

A five year graduation rate

Upon deeper research into the U.S. News & World Report rankings, The Journal discovered Western has a four year graduation rate of only 22 percent. With the majority of students taking five years to complete an undergraduate degree, this increases cost of school significantly.

“Some of this is due to the large percentage of WOU students who are from low-income backgrounds requiring them to work more while attending WOU or to take closer to 12 credits per term,” said Dr. McDonald. A five year graduation rate can also be the result of changing majors, failing classes, or low credit loads per term.

Limited class availability

This issue has surfaced in a multitude of posts to The Journal’s Facebook page. Students believed that class availability, when limited, kept students from taking a certain course in time to fulfill their graduation requirements in four years. Missing a necessary course, in turn can lead students to adding a fifth year, causing more loans to be necessary.

Difficulty or confusion with financial aid

Financial aid itself, and fully understanding it, can be difficult.

When do I need to complete my FAFSA? How is a Pell Grant different from a loan? Obtaining the right amount of financial aid is important, and students might not know about the available resources to turn to for help or information.

“Students should complete the FAFSA by January 31 of each year,” said Dr. McDonald, adding students should also “note this date will change when the U.S. Department of Education moves to using the prior/prior income for the FAFSA.”

Alumna Jennifer Becker found another side to the financial aid problem: too much money being offered. Becker said, “Students are able to take loans that are much larger than what they actually need. I was lucky to have a scholarship and federal grants that more than covered fees and tuition, but I was still offered $7000 in loans each year.”

What could possibly be the solution to these issues?

Perhaps each factor needs to be addressed on its own. Maybe spending outside of the “necessary” by students needs to be looked at.

“Students can also control some of their own expenses by managing their discretionary expenses like how many coffee they buy, their cell phone expenses and entertainment costs,” said McDonald in an email interview.

But will cutting back on minimal things pay off big in the end? And with the graduation rate, how can it possibly be so low if all degrees are on four year tracks, even with the contributing factors? Maybe larger class sizes need to be considered or offered for vital courses, or more classes available online.

What’s the most effective way to let students know that a degree requirement is only offered once a year? And with financial aid, if a student’s payments are met, why is more money being offered? What’s the best way for students to become informed about what all their financial aid and the loans offered actually mean?

More questions arise when looking for a solution, but the bottom line is with a lower tuition rate – and the well-advertised tuition promise system that Western uses – than neighboring schools, the average student debt should not be this much higher.

Many factors contribute to this issue, and if even one of them can be solved, the impact on the overall debt percentage could be massive.

As students we always need to be aware of our spending and finances. Maybe we should all keep in closer contact with the financial aid office to make sure loans are acquired at the right rates and the FAFSA is completed at the right time, or talk more closely with our advisors to make sure we never miss the opportunity to take a class.

Whatever we do, we need to work in a direction that brings down this debt average.

For a link to the report referenced in this editorial, visit http://bit.ly/1K9u44l to view additional information.