On average, Iowa State students are more in debt when they graduate than students from other Iowa Regents’ schools. Despite the extreme difference in tuition costs, ISU students have almost the same average debt as students graduating from Drake University.

According to a recent Government of the Student Body statistic, the average ISU student graduates $17,600 in debt.

Graduates of the University of Northern Iowa are left $16,378 in the hole on average, 1997 graduates of the University of Iowa face an average debt of $16,241, and Drake’s students graduate $17,900 in debt.

These debt figures are an average of last year’s graduating classes. They include only those students who borrowed to complete college. Averages including all students of the graduating class would be lower.

These figures are strikingly similar considering the diversity of the campuses.

In contrast to lower Regents’ schools’ tuition rates, Drake students pay $20,000 in tuition.

The annual tuition for in-state students at ISU stands at $6,500, UNI’s is $6,196 and U of I students pay $9,828 per year.

Financial Aid volumes

According to a Drake official, a total of $23 million is given to Drake students as scholarships.

About 95 percent of Drake undergraduates receive some form of financial assistance, he said. Of these, 60 percent take out loans with the applied federal interest rate.

Earl Dowling, ISU’s director of student financial aid, said a total of $28.5 million in financial aid is provided to students at ISU.

UNI undergraduates receive nearly $51.9 million in aid, Joyce Morrow, UNI assistant director of financial aid, said.

U of I’s Director of Financial Aid Mark Warner said a total of more than $188 million is given to U of I students.

Of all graduate, undergraduate and professional students at U of I, 88 percent borrow from some source. Morrow said 73 percent of all UNI students receive financial aid.

Of UNI’s aid, 62 percent is in the form of loans, while 10 percent is scholarships, 14 percent is grants, 11 percent is departmental employment and 3 percent is work/study programs.

Much of U of I’s aid is in the form of student employment, as 65 percent of undergraduates are employed, Warner said.

ISU’s loan volume for the 1996-97 school year was $70.1 million, and $150 million in overall financial aid was awarded, Dowling said. Of that, less than 50 percent was student loans, 25 percent was in the form of free money and 28 percent was student employment.

Dowling said he thinks one reason for the similarity of Regents’ school students’ debt and that of Drake students’ is the method in which scholarships are granted in private and public schools.

At state institutions, when a scholarship is granted, there must be tangible money to back it up, Dowling explained. The understanding among private schools is that there is not money being given, just a percentage of revenue not collected.

Another concern Dowling expressed regards government regulation.

Each time U.S. Congress broadens the eligibility of students, the loan volume broadens as well, he said.

This created a problem in 1978 when student loans were opened to all students, and in 1992 when loans were subsidized.

This means that students can borrow money regardless of income, he said.