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Student credit card debt in Maine is the seventh highest in the nation, with Mainers owing, on average, more than $7,000 each. The stereotype of students racking up loans to pay for pizza and keg parties undermines the need for many students to make ends meet on a daily basis. With many students living off-campus in an area where full-time jobs are scarce, expenses like groceries, rent, heating bills and gas add up quickly. For many, credit cards are not a magic plastic party ticket, but a crucial part of financing an education.
The university has consistently been praised for the value of its in-state tuition costs, and programs like Opportunity Maine will help reduce the burden over time. It is hard not to compare the costs of books to the average debt load. At a conservative $500 per semester, and assuming the typical student graduates in five years, $5,000 of credit card debt is equal to the costs of books alone.
Students are ultimately responsible for their own debts. The university could investigate deferred payment plans for books that could be repaid in low-interest installments.
This is still debt, but freeing cash flow for students at a lower, educational interest rate could reduce the burden of debt for students. This could help Maine in the long run by creating a generation of graduates who are one step closer to taking the innovative risks Maine’s economy needs most.
