European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 24, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Students debt rising sharply by Isabel Wilkerson new York times n May Ink Kaplan a of i Niue Al he University or Michigan will graduate with ,1 Bachelor s do give in English $18,000 in student Loans hanging Over him and no idea How to will pay Iho Money Back such Cassis worry education officials and other experts who say lha record Bon owing Lor College Ihre Alens Iho financial stability of a generation of Young americans and their Armiros with College costs rising and the number of Grants declining in the uni cd slalom slide nos and their parents last Yaar look out Caily $10 billion in ederal education Loans that is almost triple the amount of a decade ago Allee a elation is taken into account. Ii does not include billions in Bank Loans second mortgages and Loans Horn relatives in Alf. A third to a Hail of undergraduates Are heavily in debt As they leave school and enter choir lowest years Kaplan s proportionally tiny pan in All this Means  he now owes Iho government More Shan he can a Post local n in a year assuming he Ges a Job a her graduation. The average annual salary for recent Liberal arts graduates 15 $17,300, the education department says ii Kaplan goes to Law school ins Lead which to has considered he would probably raise his prospective earnings but also his cumulative debt. He has become fatalistic ill do what i  he said there s no such thing As debtors prison. And the worst they can do is take your lax  the growth of Iho problem is affecting not Only individual lives some authorities believe. They say the Burden of debt is also chasing Many slide nos away irom poorly paid Public service jobs and forcing others to defer the Start of a family and the Purchase of a Home or car. With economic and social consequences Hal have not been measured. We should be watchful of this generation said Dena sooner an economist with the joint economic committee of Congress which has issued a report on Federal Loans. A larger percentage of their income will go toward debt for longer periods of time while their real income May not go up " the increased borrowing comes when the Reagan administration is seeking ways to shift the Cost of financial Aid programs irom Tho Federal government to the Slu Denis who Benefit irom them administration officials say College debt is world the investment because the average College graduate can expect to earn $640,000 More than a High school graduate Over a lifetime. Who should pay the Bill Iho Slu dont or Tho cab Driver who did t oven go to College asked Bruce m. Games Deputy undersecretary of education who is in charge of the budget Lor that department. Nobody s holding a gun to these people s head and saying you Wiff take this loan and you will go to this expensive school " the administration also argues thai increasing the number of Grants Only encourages colleges and universities to raise tuition because they know the government will help Bear the Cost. A Cul in the number of Grants is not the end of civilization As we know it carries said. Bui education old vials tear Hal graduates overburdened with Debl May be More Likely to default and less Likely to contribute to their schools Ihus threatening the chances of the next generation of College students to seek private and Federal Aid. At some Point it will push people Over the Brink of unmanageable debt said Dallas Martin exo ulivo director of the National association of financial Aid administrators which represents 3. 100 colleges and universities us a tightening Luxure " already education officials arc seeing signs of trouble at College Mancal Aid Elfices where Linos have grown longer and problems More complicated it is nol uncommon they said Lor parents to beseech financial Aid officers for Moo Tim or Lor students to break Down Al Trie counter when it becomes Clear Hal they will nol be Able to pay i heir share in the last decade Lilion costs  soared with local annual costs approaching $20.000 at some private schools students say Hoy have to roly on Federal Aid and parental support because a Pai Mimo Job will not pay the same proportion of the tuition Bill it did years ago last year students at Privalo four year colleges accumulated an average debt of nearly $9,000 by graduation while students a i Public colleges owed an average of nearly $7,000, according to the congressional recoil. Ono in 10 Slud enl borrowers at Public colleges and More than one in Fourl Tho others owed j10,000 to s15.000, the report said Al the same Lime some parents have taken extra 0bs and Chau Slid Roli Remol savings the parents Are living on the Edge themselves Martin said some Are pulling of choir own medical care cashing in insurance policies and jeopardizing Hidir own economic  Twenty years ago James and Ellen Carter of Cleveland bought a $10,000 certificate of in posit thinking i would cover most of the College costs for choir five children Tho Money barely lasted through their eldest son s graduation irom the University of Michigan in 1930. Since then they have helped the four other children through school including their youngest child who Wilt graduate from Yale this year. We re Al the Point where our resources Are depleted mrs Carler said we be told Iho kids it moans they May have to Lake care of us  students and officials Are joking those Days Hal marriage proposals among student debtors Musl now take on a fiscal and decidedly unromantic tone instead of let s got married " Sturtevant said it s now before we get married let s see the blood lest and the promissory notes " the Reagan administration cites ils experimental income contingent loan plan As a Way to make payments less burdensome. Unlike existing programs the plan would offer More flexible repayment terms and would link Rop Aymen to a student s income after graduation. The live year plan Inch is to Start in the next academic year at selected schools would also require students to pay interest accrued from the time they first receive the loan. The government at Iho moment subsidizes interest casts while the students Are in school the administration wants to broaden the loan plan to Cut Overall spending on Slud enl Aid and to Cul Down on Loans in default. Each year student loan programs Cost the government More than $2 billion in interest subsidies and about $1 billion in newly defaulted Loans. Now v