Drowning in debt: FAMU grads owe nearly $30,000 each

big rattler
27

Note: This is part two of our special series: "Investing in a Higher Graduation Rate."

FAMU has a student debt crisis. And, it may be the most serious in the entire State University System.

According to the most recent data available from the Project on Student Debt, the members of FAMU’s Class of 2007 owed an average of $29,742 each upon graduation. That was the highest reported number among all Florida’s public universities.

Statewide, public and private college student debt averaged $20,243.

Many FAMU students try to avoid additional debt by working. During the 2006-2007 school year, FAMU had more students in federal work-study jobs than UCF, FAU, or UNF (which all have larger enrollments than FAMU). Large numbers of FAMU students also interrupt their education to work until they have enough money to re-enroll. This hurts the university's six-year graduation rate.

The problem is likely to get worse before it gets better. FAMU’s administration is lobbying the Florida Legislature to approve an up to 15 percent differential tuition option. The differential, plus the 5 percent across-the-board tuition hike proposed in the governor’s budget, could take away much of the new, federal education stimulus that FAMU’s students will receive next year.

That means most FAMU students will continue to need tens of thousands in loans. In 2007, 82 percent of FAMU’s undergraduates used school, state, and/or federal loans to help pay tuition.

Student Debt/Class of 2007*

FAMU $29,742
USF $18,517
UF $14,988
UNF $14,189
FSU $13,855
UCF $ 13,373
New College $11,720
FGCU $9,449

*2007 data was unavailable for FIU, UWF, or FAU.


Source: Project on Student Debt

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27Comments

  1. I know this is true! My son first year was a waste at FAMU '06, he evidently transferred to FSU which was totally affordable university and will graduate earlier than expected, this year! If it wasn't for planned long term college savings, scholarships and dipping into retirement funds there would've been a drowning debt after graduation! Also, why does it take six (6) years to graduate? Does that include Master/Doctoral program? Why is FAM's tuition more than others based on the quality of education that is given?
    Parent of ex-HBCU student~

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  2. Smh, that's funny. How do you send your child to university without knowing these things? And quality of education can't honestly be enumerated by tuition costs. I know this.., Not knowing how the education of your child is funded, is dramatically and directly related to the ultimate cost personally. smh

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  3. 1:37 AM, I sent TWO kids to FAMU and would do it again in a heart beat. FAMU's education was excellent. I will be the first to say that FAMU is not for everybody, including your son. He obviously couldn't cut it at FAMU, was placed in a remedial class for Negroes at FSU, and socially graduated.

    Proud Parent of TWO FAMU GRADUATES!!

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  4. To be honest, students at FAMU don't always recieve the best advisement when selecting their classes for each semester, so sometimes they take classes they don't need. I went to Hampton for undergrad, and we couldn't register until we met with our advisor and they signed off on our class schedule. I've heard students at FAMU (when I was there) say they could never find their advisor to get counseling. Just a thought

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  5. I've been on this campus for 13 years, I've seen students wait to the last minute to register, then frantically search for their advisors. I have seen students either come late to class, leave early, or not go to class at all. Why would you do this knowing that you are paying to go to school?

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  6. 1:37, I see tons of reasons why your son probably couldn't cut it at FAMU, but I'll spare the readers and list the first -- and perhaps most obvious one in line two of your post. You say "evidently," when you probably mean "eventually." I won't even go onto the myriad of errors and other illogical statements contained in your post. What I will say, however, is that that acorn didn't fall far from that tree.

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  7. I've been on this campus for nearly 15 years, and I know that students don't always do what they are suppose to do. They "self-advise" because they've waited till the last minute, and when they can't locate their advisor -- who's been in the office forever waiting, waiting, waiting for students who never show up -- the students just go on and do their own advising and many times they get classes they don't necessarily need. During pre-registration advisors must post 'advisement hours' on their office door -- most do, but some, of course, do not -- but students just show up whenever they are in the general area and think about getting advised. That advisement conundrum works both ways. I teach at the university, so I know how this student/professor/advisement thing works (or doesn't). BTW -- and before anyone declares that I "ought to get off RN and do some 'real work,' -- I'm at home, using my own pc, and am just taking a ten-minute break from the real work that I do (and love to do)!

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  8. I think most of us are familiar with the problem of student-to-student "street counseling" on campus. I've never really understood it. The course catalogue clearly tells students which classes they're supposed to take each semester.

    What can the profs really do? They can't just wait around in their offices for 8 hours every day until students come in to get advised. The teachers have to grade papers, lecture, research, and attend committee meetings.

    If students are taking way more courses than necessary, then that's going to pile more debt on them. There has to be some creative solution to fix that problem.

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  9. When you don't LIVE on campus, you're not "IN COLLEGE", you're just taking classes. Therefore you're not on campus schedule because you work and are marginally apart of the FAMU community. Also advisement is something that has benefits but it depends on the program you're in or trying to get into. Its highly possible that a student can be in one program and report to more than one advisor due to being in multiple programs, like secondary education. So if it seems that students are taking "unnecessary" courses, it may have a lot to do with their schedule when they are not on campus and other legitimate issues. Most jobs could care less what my school schedule demanded when I was a student. The most gross issue isn't what the student is taking, its really the environment they are living and navigating to support the kind of learning we expect at FAMU. Most of our issues can be addressed from adaptations of the concepts outlined in Tavis' "The Covenant."

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  10. I wonder how high the average debt is for only the students who've taken out loans.

    The "almost $30,000" average is for all students -- including those who've received full-ride scholarships and graduate with no debt at all. The scholarship students bring the overall debt number down.

    I wouldn't be surprised if the average for non-scholarship students is closer to $35,000 or more.

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  11. It's unfortunate, but $30,00 is good debt and it is a great investment for your life. No one can take the degree away from you and hopefully the access it will provide. Noone complains about paying $30,000 or a car that the miute you drive it off the lot has lost its value ad only lasts for 10 years. No one talks about how much they will spend eating lunch out and going to happy hour. College is expensive. For those of us who have gone and graduated and who are enjoying a better living than those who did not, we know it was well worth the $30,000.

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  12. I agree that FAMU is a great investment. But do we really want our university to be at the top of the state's student debt list? That isn't good for recruitment.

    The students who get full scholarships will still come - but what about those who don't have the highest GPAs or test scores?

    Finding ways to help decrease the cost of college has to be a priority at FAMU. We're still competing against other universities. The student debt problem is a real disadvantage.

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  13. The students have PLENTY of time to visit their advisors. The Undergraduate Experience Program has sixteen well trained and well qualified advisors that are in their offices eighty percent of the timefor ALL freshman and sophomores. The other twenty percent of the time the advisors are either teaching a class, or doing administrative work.
    Like the other blogger stated, the advisors are in their offices ALL DAY LONG and the students will wait until the last minute to come in for advisement or never come in at all and then have to register for the classes that are left open so that they can try and have twelve to fifteen hours.
    Some advisors place the students on advisement hold that requires them to come and visit them before registration to ensure that the students are advised properly, then it is up to the student to go and register for the classes that they were advised for.

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  14. I think we understand that some of the behaviors mentioned are not the best for what we expect at FAMU. So we need to understand how to best remedy certain behaviors that aren't progressive. The freshman orientation class is not currently mandatory. Hopefully that will change. You've gotta imagine the type of alumni we've gained when they never lived on or near campus. Never been in Lee Hall and can't name a single building or street name. Never witnessed or participated in anything. We've gotta understand how critical learning environment is to our mission and building FAMUans. You'd be surprised how important it is for us to want everyone to grow and evolve into a citizen contributing via FAMU's mission and legacy. The experience has to be a personal one. Quite befitting an institution uplifting 'Excellence with Caring.' Our influence is compromised until hosing at least matches the financial need percentages. Even then, the goal should be inclusion. Association is essential.

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  15. I didn't realize that the freshmen orientation class isn't required. No wonder so many "street counselors" have the ears of new students. Roll should be taken at orientation and any freshman who doesn't show up should be placed on hold until they attend a make-up session.

    I also hope that FAMU will make it mandatory for students to meet with their Undergraduate Experience Program advisors.

    The freshmen might not like it. But it could save them some money (from avoiding unnecessary classes) in the long run.

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  16. 3:10, 7:55, 12:08 your ignorant comments are appreciated. My son will graduate with a double major as Magna Cum Laude within a 3 year time frame, is that remedial? Think Not! Has FAMU produced Rhodes Scholars? Correct, acorn doesn't fall far from the tree -- he wised up and will graduate from a white institution. Also, it wasn't a counseling issue -- it was cancellation of classes and having to deal with unruly students (fights, theft, sex addicts, loudness in classrooms, use of profanity, etc..)
    Proud Parent of FSU graduate!
    p.s.
    Obviously 9:27, 5:30, 9:12, 2:11 are educated individuals, thank you for your positive input... God Bless You!

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  17. 3:01 AM, So you transferred your son to FSU where they CHEAT on exams, fight & hit people in the head with chairs, assault police officers, rape girls in the library, rob each other, and urinate in public? I'm sure your son fit right in at that "White" institution.

    Has FSU EVER won any Academic Competitions?

    VERY Proud Parent of FAMU Student!!

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  18. 3:01 AM, Corect me if I'm wrong, but I believe their parents produced those Rhodes Scholars, not FSU. Please give credit where the credit is really due!

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  19. This is freaking ridiculous. We are supposed to be training these students to be free men and free women - leaders in the market of ideas.

    Instead, we are enslaving them to debt.

    We need to figure out how to get these students educated without shackling them with such a heavy burden.

    How about working your way through college instead of borrowing your way through college. Worked for me.

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  20. 12:24 PM, I don't believe FAMU has 12,000 student job openings.

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  21. The article did say that FAMU has more students participating in work-study than several bigger state universities.

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  22. "Work Study" and "FAMU jobs" are not the only ways to earn money. I agree that these handouts are limited and often given to the select few.

    However, Tallahassee is a pretty good sized city with lots of work to be done.

    Sometimes it takes a lot of work to keep yourself unshackled by debt.

    I would like to believe that my fellow FAMUians are more creative and industrious than you give them credit for. "FAMU doesn't have 12,000 student job openings." I am going to file that statement in the "ridiculous" file. There is plenty of work to do around town, even in this recession.

    GO GET SOME OF THAT STIMULUS MONEY BROTHERS!

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  23. Thank God you are a Rattler and not a Gator. This is so embarrassing (for the Gators).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2uQ7Fg_Uk&feature=related

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  24. Corine Brown has to be the dumbest MF in Congress, bar none. Like I said, FAMU gets the cream of the crop (Kendrick Meek). The other schools get the hulls (Corine Brown).

    4:00 PM, let our students concentrate on school as opposed to creating jobs. Please take your Ritalin as prescribed by your doctor.

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  25. 3:01 --- OMG, did you say "white institution"? That acorn! That acorn! So now, everything white is alright? Is that what you're saying???? Whoa, Nelly! You and that boy of yours belong together. It's more madness and mayhem going on a "white" school -- as you call it -- than there is at any HBCU. You're just sad, is all, and don't even know it.I bet you love drama, too. And I'm willing to bet you're always the instigator of it, too.

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  26. 3/17/2009 1:37 AM

    I hate to burst your bubble but if you really did have a son that attended both FAMU and FSU you'd know the tuition is exactely the same. This makes me question the validiy of your post. Any parent would know this small bit of information.

    Before you go and knock the quality of education at an HBCU please do your research and see why HBCUs were created in the first place.

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  27. I myself will continue my course work attending FAMU as a junior starting this summer in SBI and in relation to both this article on rattler nation and several other articles discussing graduation debt throughout the entire country, I don't think the schools are to blame. No matter where a student attends or how much school costs graduation debt is not only a problem with just FAMU but other institutes as well. Let’s face it student loans is another way students can easily get money NOW for all college students...you don't need credit approval & it helps out a lot. Most students especially those who have jobs tend to take out way more then they need to "live the life" while go to school as well.Better housing,clothes,cars you name it. And this is for students everywhere NOT JUST FAMU!The increase of tuition and other student fees just adds to the list of grads in today's world obtaining student loans that are easy to receive.

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