Page 13 - August 2023 Issue.indd

If you are one of them, you must reach out to the last known It is very possible that if this same survey were done today, two
contact you have for your loans. If you have no idea who years later, the total assets of the same institutions surveyed
you are to make payment to check your original loan papers would be over $1 trillion, about $3,100 per person in the US.

or contact the business office of the institution of higher I do not know about you, but this is crazy. Think about it.
education that benefited from you borrowing for your College endowments, probably over $1 trillion, are well over
education. 50% of the total outstanding student debt.

It is imperative that you pay attention to your mail, both Allowing colleges to accumulate such wealth while the
electronic and snail mail. Lenders will be trying to fi nd you consumers (students) of the product (higher education)
if they haven’t already. Pay attention and respond accordingly. become weighed down with long term debt is an irony that
Remember, the payments are not going away, at least until should not be overlooked. Somehow, some way colleges and
you complete the process of relief through PSLF or Pay as universities should share some of their wealth with consumers
You Go plans. of their product. Either lower tuition costs across the board
or focus more aid back to students individually.
Once contact has been made with your servicer request

information about all available relief programs. Do not, and I The student loan crisis will not go away overnight. At the very
repeat, do not rely on your student loans being forgiven with least the reining in of the cost of a higher education needs to
the swoosh of a pen. President Biden has said he is going to be a part of the solution.

find a way to make it happen. Personally, I doubt it. Unless
Mr. Rowe is Vice President/Lending for Bay Capital Mortgage
you qualify for any current programs it is unlikely that your
Corp. with offices in Easton and Annapolis. He has lived
responsibility to repay your student loans will be forgiven.
in Caroline for his entire life and supports the county by
Whatever you do, do not, and I emphasize do not pay anyone volunteering in a variety of ways. He currently lives near
for assistance in dealing with student loans. Only work Greensboro with his wife Jeanne and daughter Kelsey.
with the US Department of Education and the office of

Federal Student Aid, www.studentaid.gov. There has been a
proliferation of scammers offering to assist with forgiveness,

discharge, and cancellation of student loans for a fee. Do
not make an inconvenient situation worse by being taken
by scam artists. Additionally, never, ever, use a credit card to
make a payment on a student loan, or any other revolving or
installment debt payment for that matter.
the market is
It is interesting to note that in all this angst in dealing with
over a trillion dollars in student loan debt, the cost of higher
education and corresponding increase of college endowment
balances are not part of the conversation. College costs
have soared over the last 30 years and been supported and
sustained by a never-ending source of funding. Consumers
of higher education (students) have leveraged their futures
with borrowed money, with the hope that increased income
will be the result of the investment. For far too many this has
not been the result.

The number of households with student loan debt has more
than doubled in the last 30 years, from 1989 to 2019 according
to the Federal Reserve. Total student loans outstanding have
more than tripled from $520 billion in 2006 to $1.76 trillion
in 2022.
10794 Greensboro Road
While student loan debt has exploded colleges and universities Denton, MD 410-479-4663
have accumulated billions of dollars in endowments. At the end
of Fiscal 2021, 720 public and private institutions surveyed by www.TheBrenton
the National Association of College and University Business RealtyGroup.com
Officers and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association

of America boasted $821 billion in assets. Of these, 137 had
KATHLEEN BRENTON, BROKER
endowments greater than $1 billion, about $3 per person in
KATHLEENBRENTON@GMAIL.COM
the US, for a combined $687 billion, leaving the balance of (410) 829-3430
$134 billion among the other 684 colleges and universities.
13