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News

An arm, a leg and a loan

Making ends meet

Corrin Semmler, a French and art senior, will deal with her expected $30,000 student loan debt when she comes to it. That's not including money owed on a house and two cars. And once her husband, who's taking basic classes at a junior college, moves to university-level studies, that debt will go even deeper.

"It's hard to think about it now on how to pay," she said. "I never wanted to not come to school because of my loans."

Most of Semmler's student loans are federal, though one is from a local bank, and the interest rates ranges from 5 to 6 percent with a cap at 8 percent on her loans.

"I believe it could take about 10 to 20 years to pay off all of my student loans," she said. "My husband and I will try to pay them off quicker than that, though."

Semmler said she has also had difficulty applying for scholarships as a returning higher education student.

"A lot (of scholarships) are for kids straight out of high school," she said, though she does recieve a $500 grant each semester for this school year.

Although she can begin paying off the accumulated interest on her loans at any time, Semmler does not yet have to make payments on her student debt.

An additional worry she faces is the course enrollment cap implemented for students who enrolled in a Texas public institution of higher education after the Fall 1999 semester. The provision requires in-state students to pay out-of-state tuition on classes after attempting 45 hours more than what is required for their degree.

"I hope I don't have to take more loans out just because in my past I earned my associate's degree and now have too many hours," she said. "Even if that does happen, my education is well worth the money."

In order to support herself and still complete her degrees, Semmler juggles 30 work hours and 15 class hours a week.

"It's a good experience for me to have my schedule the way it is now,"she said. "I've learned to balance things that are going on in my life."

Semmler plans to pursue a teaching career, and she said she'd also like the opportunity to work in an art museum. She also has her sights set on graduate school, though that will have to wait a few years after she graduates and would mean even more loans.

"I feel that going to college is something that I am supposed to be doing, and I know that in the end, the money to pay back the loans will be there one way or another," she said.

--By Kelsie Hahn, with additional reporting by Guilherme Cunha

Javeria Kazi, entrepreneurship senior, knows the clock is ticking on her April loan deadlines. She has only 90 days to repay an emergency tuition loan of $2,025. The pressure mounts as her as she struggles to meet her deadline.

Like many students, Kazi feels the financial burden each semester brings as she hurries to pay the gathering bills. Although she receives a $1,500 government grant, Kazi still works three jobs, including a three-week accounting internship with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, just to stay afloat.

"My parents always say if I ever need any help or anything that I can ask them," she said. "But they're in their own financial situation, so I don't want to have to. That's extra out of their pocket."

To avoid leaning on her parents for support in her first semesters at UH, Kazi earned a scholarship that paid for half of her tuition. When she was late in reapplying for it, though, Kazi was told there weren't enough funds to continue her scholarship. 

She turned to her parents for help.

"It was a big burden on them," she said. "They were always after me to take fewer classes or after me to get another scholarship."

As sophomore year approached, Kazi was forced to take out a Stafford loan, something her parents weren't pleased with.

Her father won't take out any loans with interest because it's against the Muslim religion as outlined in the Quran, Kazi said. 

As the semesters rolled by, however, Kazi could find no other way to pay for her education. Although she was attempting a double major in marketing and entrepreneurship, she found the financial pressure of two majors too hard to bear.

"Once we got to my junior year, we had depleted our funds. We had more expenses to pay," she said. "I basically ended up maxing our credit cards out."

Her parents still chastise her every time she talks about the interest she owes, she said. While her parents understand that education is important, they also tell Kazi she should focus on her religion.

To her dad, religion comes first, she said, before worldly things.

"Not that religion isn't a priority to me, because it is. At the time, I was in such a bind and so worried about losing something I've worked hard for that the only option was taking out a loan," she said. "When the reality hits, and there's no other way out, (taking out loans) is what ends up happening."

--By Robyn Morrow with additional reporting by Shannah LeDee

Mike Rahimi, international business junior, is combining his two passions to both earn and pay for a degree. Rahimi initially relied on loans and scholarships to cover his expenses.

He now uses the income from a small business he founded to cover most of his college expenses and will begin paying the debt off once he graduates.

"At the time when I first started at UH, the loans and scholarships were a must," he said.

Rahimi founded NonStopTuning, an internet-based business that designs and sells light-weight engine components to increase engine performance, while taking a few semesters off from classes.

"It was my passion and what I have wanted to do for a long time,"he said.

Between the income he earns from NST and some assistance from his mother, Rahimi is able to cover the costs of his schooling but not without difficulty.

"On a scale of one to 10, I would say coming up with the insanely high tuition and fees rates as an eight," he said. 

With college tuition and fees on the rise, Rahimi said the general attitude toward higher education needs to change.

"I think a shift in the culture of our society and the way our government spends its funds would be most beneficial," he said, adding that government money supporting military involvement in Iraq might be better spent on education. 

"I couldn't help but wonder if or how some of that funding might help students gain an education instead and whether or not that would be more beneficial as whole," Rahimi said.

Despite the stress of loans, taking classes while performing a job that demands more than 50 hours a week, Rahimi said a good education is more than worth the costs he's had to endure.

"I certainly believe that higher education is extremely important to moving a society and a people forward in our world and our time period. I think it is more important than almost anything else," he said.

"(Consider) all the major concerns that we currently have today ? war, peace, health care, poverty, etc.," he said. 

"A huge step in resolving these problems is to provide our youth with the means to an education."

--By Kelsie Hahn with additional reporting by Robyn Morrow

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