Page 71 - Book8E

CHAPTER 8
Student Loans and the Cost of a
Good Education
Chances are you’ve been told more than once in your life that to get a good job, you need an education. While many people got a good job without an education, there are many more who got good jobs because they did have an education. “Consider the median wage of full-time workers who are at least 25 years old. At the end of last year, it was $986 a week for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, versus $574 for those with only a high-school education, according to the most recent calculation from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.” (The New York Times, October 7, 2005.) A four-year college degree can be a solid investment, but there is no guarantee you will get that well-paying job as soon as you graduate so be prepared to be patient.
Education creates opportunities. No qualified student should be denied an education because the cost is too high. Fortunately, there’s money available—but you need to apply to be eligible to receive it.
Federal Student Aid is committed to making sure that all eligible students can benefit from financial help for education beyond high school. There may be a good deal more of this help on hand than you think. In 2006, nearly $78 billion in the form of grants, work-study and low-interest loans was provided. About 10 million students ben- efited from this aid. Many of them could not have managed the rising cost of education without it.
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
—Derek Bok
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