Recession likely to hit students’ pockets and decisions further

Many students were surprised to receive an e-mail about an additional $100 fee spurred by the economic recession. In this message, Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, Vice President for Student Affairs, said state revenues have fallen and the University System must reduce spending. Consequently, students were hit with the additional fee.

“The economic recession affecting the nation has not bypassed the State of Georgia or Georgia College,” Harshbarger wrote, though he also noted, “Georgia College remains committed to meeting these current financial challenges in ways that have minimal affect on our academic mission and our students.”

Though many students were angered by the fee imposed only two weeks before the winter break, many failed to realize that faculty and staff members are also suffering. Colleges and universities decided to trim spending by a total of 8 percent, and faculty and staff members now have to pay a larger percentage of their health insurance cost. Cathy J. Crawley, Director of Financial Aid, said “the whole campus was hit,” stating “these financial hardships are appearing nationwide and GCSU is not untouched.”

“A lot has happened over the last six months,” Crawley said.”Things were done at the state level that impacted universities.”

Fees such as the temporary $100 fee have been instituted because of these state level decisions, but measures to help students are also being made. Crawley said that in May of 2008 President Bush saw that students would need additional money and made it possible for them to increase their loans by $2,000. Seeing that there is still a need, Bush ensured this additional funding would remain available for the 2009-2010 school year.
“We realize that students and parents are hit. We take this very seriously,” Crawley said.

Crawley further added that students in need may find it harder to get private loans, which are not guaranteed, but federal regulated loans are available and have low interest rates so the student is protected. In response to the economic recession, Crawley encourages students “to let us try to help you. That’s what we’re here for.”

Enrollment numbers are another concern caused by the recession, but at this point, according to Registrar Kay Anderson, GCSU has not seen a significant change. In fact, spring enrollment this year is currently higher than last year.
“We always have a few students who leave every term. We expect that,” Anderson said.

Though some students did withdrawal or transfer because of personal reasons, Anderson has not seen a decline in numbers due to economical hardships.

Aside from additional fees and drop-out rates, many students biggest worry about the economic recession is not merely paying for school, but figuring out what to do upon graduation. Dr. Christopher Clark, Assistant Professor of Economics, noted that graduating seniors may have trouble finding jobs since the recession has caused the job market to dry up.

Clark advises students to consider graduate school and, when looking for jobs, be flexible in location. He said applying for graduate school or a career will be competitive, so students should “find a way to differentiate themselves from other applicants.” Clark also said that he does not foresee another Depression since job loss has slowed and the country has learned from past events.

“I don’t think there is a possibility of another Depression,” Clark said. “After the Great Depression, the government instituted a lot of things, such as FDIC, welfare, and unemployment, to prevent that from happening again.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 23 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry