by Cecilia Pham
News Reporter
Statistics from the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid at the University of Houston show that the amount of loans taken out by UH students has increased by $16 million since 1993.
Numbers for 1996 show student loans totaled $49 million, as opposed to approximately $33 million in 1993. Various factors contribute to the rise in loan amounts, students say.
Business graduate student Trang Nguyen said she took out loans for her bachelor's degree because she had no financial assistance from her family and she was only working a part-time job.
"I am paying back about $150 a month from a loan amount of about $12,000," she said. "I really had no choice but to take out a loan if I wanted to go to school full time."
Freshman technology major Keeya Henderson tried to avoid student loans by applying to as many scholarship programs as she could. She said she would have taken out loans had she not received any scholarships.
Henderson said all school bills have to be paid in the end, so scholarships seem a natural solution. She said she prefers scholarships to loans because they don't have to be paid back.
Some students, like senior psychology major Marcia Carungcong, are lucky enough not to have to borrow money. Carungcong's parents helped her financially.
"My parents wanted me to stay away from debt as much as possible, and so I always knew that my parents were going to back me up (financially)," Carungcong said.
"If I didn't have my parents' help, then I would have probably taken out a loan because I would have preferred to do that than to work and go to school. It's just too hard to go to school full time and work to pay your school bills."
Students can also get the help of the government through grants, but many times grants are not a reliable source to pay tuition because the amount of a grant received may not be enough or a student may become ineligible for a grant.
Carungcong said that, as a freshman, she received a large amount, but her second year she received very little. The following year, she received nothing at all.
Carungcong said another reason she did not want to take out a loan for her undergraduate studies was because she knew she would have to do so when she reached graduate school.
"I want to go to optometry school, and that is expensive even for in-state students," she said. "I also plan to move out on my own when I do go, so I'll have a lot of expenses."
Students like freshman communication major Monaka Dove worry about paying back the loans once graduation comes around.
"One of my big worries, being a communication major and the field being very competitive, is getting a job and to have a large debt like (a loan) when you are just getting out," Dove said. "You have to worry."