2 The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010
Loans defaulting nationwide
Top 8 State Colleges and the
Delau It Rates
300000
Number
of
200000
Borrowers 100000
0
% Of Default Rates
□ AZ.
h CA.
nFL. OIL.
bny . dor . o PN. q TX.
Source: U.S. Department of Education
By Kyle Smith
The Clackamas Print
Student loans: many have
them, and most will pay them
off. Approximately one in twelve,
however, will not pay, accord
ing to the Stafford loan default
rate report published by the U.S.
Department of Education.
Default is the legal term used
when a debtor does not make
payments on the money he or she
owes. Regardless of the circum
stances that lead to the failure
to meet this financial obligation,
defaulting can permanently scar
one’s credit rating, making it dif
ficult or impossible« to open a
new credit line, buy a car, rent an
apartment or buy a house.
According to Chitpasong
Bello, the financial aid direc
tor at Clackamas Con^munity
College, this year in particular
marks a change for students as
all Stafford loans, subsidized or
un-subsidized. These loans are
now obtained through the United
States Department of Education,
from the Federal Reserve Bank.
Private lenders, such as Wells
Fargo and Wachovia have been
forced to sell their outstanding
loans to the government.
Such a change may not mean
much to the average student who
still has the same interest rate and
payment amount, and has only
to write a different name on the
checks they mail each month. For
those who can’t pay, however,
it means they’re in debt not to a
private company who may have
a more lenient repayment policy,
but to the federal government.
The Department of Education
has published a report of the
rates of default for each institu
tion every fiscal year, but this too
is changing.
“Now the rates will be calcu
lated based on the most recent
three years for each institution,”
said Bello.
“Why would anyone default if
they had a choice?” said Robert
Hill, a CCC student. “We’re in
a time of (economic) depression
right now. Rates of people going
into school are higher than ever.
It’s like, ‘Go to school, maybe get
a little bit of money to help you
survive, or just sink right now.’”
Students are gambling with
their futures as they either go to
school, get a degree and find a
job or they don’t and default on
their loans, according to Hill.
Clackamas has been fairing
better than many other communi
ty colleges in Oregon, according
to the default rate reports based
on the 2006, 2007 and 2008 fis
cal years. Clackamas was fifth
lowest in the state in 2008 with an
8.5 percent rate of default. This
means that statistically about
one in twelve people who take
Stafford loans at CCC default on
them after leaving college.
“I would imagine, personally,
that a large portion of the people
who (don’t pay) are, in fact, peo
ple that could not finish school
for whatever reason,” said Jeremy
Laughton, a Clackamas student
working towards a political sci
ence major. “For those who finish
their degrees, I would say one of
the large portions for them would
be choosing a bad degree.”
Laughton referenced boom
job degrees in such fields as nurs
ing and technical support, as well
as degrees he believes are useless
from the get-go.
“For instance, I know a lot of
people who complete an Associate
of General Studies, which is a two
year degree and it’s really quite
worthless.” Laughton explained,
“It doesn’t get you anywhere.
As far as any job is concerned,
it’s really just the same as a high
school diploma, except it says
you attended two more years of
college and paid out the ass for
it.”
Whether they dropped out,
graduated into a bad job market,
picked a bum degree or spent
too much time and money on a
degree that didn’t pan out for as
much as it looked like going in,
ex-students in default are still
in default. Only time will tell
if more students or fewer will
default as the economy and job
market continues to dry up.
Register
Will the
Web
crash?
Continued from Page 1
Despite the initial regis
tion hassle, both Ebaib |
Pearson noted that they li
many of the portal’s fea
Those features include onl
account payment, studen
mail, and the ability to bro
courses by subject and ti
According to web
coordinator Dean Wai
CCC has two develo
in charge of all the syst
on campus. He and fell
coordinator Shawn Sw
rarely leave their desks
ing the first week of ev
registration period, to en
the systems continue to
In the past they work
maintenance projects on
a time, whenever indivi
systems demanded care
redesign.
“We’re trying to tak
different kind of appr
this time around. Now
we’ve got the portal, the n
college site, and some o
things like Moodle, we’re
ing to take a more integra
approach so that we’re
just focusing on one syst
said Walch.
This continual mai
nance of all systems at a
may make a difference
those attempting to regi
next Tuesday.
Walch welcomes fee
from students on their ex
ence with myClackamas.
“We do take it very
ously. It ’s here for the stu
and we want to make
it’s usable for the stud
We’ve done a lot tea
so we’re hopefully ex
ing things to go smo
for this upcoming enroll
period,” Walch said.
If students do enco
difficulties registering onl
the student help desk 1
be reached at 503-594-3]
Students may also ob
password resets, “Tips]
Tricks” and FAQ’s at the 1
desk’s website, access!
from the college’s main"
page via the staff dirccto
C
The Underworld By Jaime Dunkle
Illustration by Tyler ■
i hit
r- Staff-
The
Clackamas Print
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