Despite ever-rising costs, college education still proves priceless

Serghino René

Tia Lite, a 2005 graduate of Johnson C. Smith University, is one of the lucky ones. She got her degree in communications art with a concentration in public relations and marketing. Unlike some of her peers, she doesn’t have to worry about paying her loans back right away, because she got a full ride.

Call it luck, or a case of being in the right place at the right time. Lite’s pastor knew Judge Alexander Davenport, a Johnson C. Smith alumnus who happened to be visiting the church.

“I applied and was given the scholarship not long after,” Lite remembers.

Lite plans to go back to school in September and get her MBA in business. Her dream is to someday open her own public relations and marketing firm.

More and more kids are going to college, and having a college education is increasingly becoming the social and professional prerequisite of our time. It serves as the gateway to endless opportunities in life. But as the number of college graduates grows year after year, so will the seemingly never-ending rise of college tuitions.

In 1950, 33 percent of Massachusetts’s residents completed at least four years of college. By 2000, that number had increased to 57 percent.

Robin Scott, a 2005 Providence College graduate now working for Blue Cross and Blue Shield, wasn’t given a full scholarship, but was fortunate enough to have supportive parents. She says her parents saved up as much as they could for her education before she went to college, but the rest was paid for through loans.

Statistics show that families with students at private colleges in New England spend 33 percent of their annual income to cover one year of costs.

“My parents paid out of their pocket because they wanted me to get the best education I could get, ” says Scott.

Lite’s parents are putting her brother through college at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York.

“My parents are working hard and cutting corners to make it happen,” says Lite.

After college, Scott lived at home and saved for about 10 months before moving out to make a living on her own. She had to factor in her financial responsibilities with the rest of her life.

“When I moved out, all of a sudden I realized how different it was,” says Scott. “I went from just paying my cell phone bill in college to paying 4, 5 bills a month — credit card, student loan, rent, car and groceries.”

Although it is expensive, Scott sees the value.

But students like 2005 Providence College graduate Tijuana Fisher aren’t worried about the cost right now. She also received a scholarship that covered her tuition, but was responsible for room, board and fees, which she paid for through grants and loans. She believes the experience far outweighs the cost, and says that college will pay for itself in the long run.

“I experienced things I would have never experienced otherwise. Not socially, but educationally,” says Fisher. “I found myself reading certain books on my own for my personal knowledge without having them assigned to me.”

Fisher, now a marketing communications associate for Liberty Mutual, advises upcoming graduates to do their research and think hard about how they intend to pay back their loans.

“Don’t wait until the last minute to figure out how you’re going to pay back your loan,” says Fisher. “Do the research and view your options.”

Although funding an education can be a stressful burden, it is important to keep in mind the long-term value of an education, says Scott.

“In today’s society, in order to get a good job and get ahead, you have to at least have a four-year degree,” says Scott.