Families struggle to meet recession -era tuition

By: Jana Hollingsworth, Duluth News Tribune

Kent Jacobson of Cloquet has worked and saved for years to buy college educations for his two sons - but all of that may no longer be enough.

With one son in college and a second starting his freshman year in the fall, Jacobson and his wife, Mary, face more than an empty nest: He will lose his job at the end of this month.

The couple's savings, work study programs and their sons' scholarships will help stave off financial problems for a while, but if a steady job doesn't come through and the economy continues to sink, the Jacobson family may have to rely more heavily on loans.

"We'll pull back on some things, hold off on spending," he said. "There's a fair amount of uncertainty."

These are scary times for families like the Jacobsons who are sending kids to college during a recession unmatched since World War II.

Paying for education, local colleges say, will be most difficult for families who think money would be better spent elsewhere because of lost jobs or invested money.

But financial difficulties can be overcome, they stress, if families capitalize on money still available.

* Families who have had income changes because of lost jobs can file a special circumstance appeal to reflect projected income and possibly have financial aid adjusted, she said.

* The stimulus package includes millions in increases to federal work study and billions more toward Pell grants over the next two years. Federal money for Pell grants in Minnesota could increase from a maximum $4,731 to $5,550 per student by 2010.

* In his revised budget plan released Tuesday, Gov. Pawlenty restored $304 million in proposed cuts to higher education. Stafford loan levels are just as strong as last year, said Brenda Herzig, financial aid director at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

"It's not hopeless by any means," Herzig said.

But some money sources are drying up. Many banks no longer offer student loans, and though others are still lending, they require families to have sufficient income or home equity, said Eric Berg, vice president for enrollment management at the College of St. Scholastica.

That could be a problem for some families, while others deal with "the sheer mental barrier of the sticker price of college when 401ks are shrinking and retirement plans are being decimated," Berg said.

Students who rely on banks for loans are probably those who choose more expensive schools and need extra money, or who don't qualify for financial aid, said Tonya Roth, admissions director at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

"Students who are looking at public colleges , especially those who fall in the middle of the road, their outlook should be fine," she said.

At Lake Superior College , students whose parents have recently lost jobs are being referred to the Duluth Workforce Development Program for possible state resources, and the college also can adjust aid based on new income expectations.

"Across the Northland, colleges are finding ways to reach out to students and their parents who are dislocated, to see what we can do and take advantage of the financial aid that's out there," said Sandy Olin, financial aid director at LSC.

CLOSER TO HOME?

A widespread expectation that the economy will keep college students closer to home is only partly true in the Northland.

At UWS, applications from Duluth and northern Minnesota are up 21 percent over the same time last year, and applications from Superior and Northwestern Wisconsin are up 13 percent. Applications from southern Wisconsin are down.

Almost the opposite is true at St. Scholastica and UMD. Applications at Scholastica from southwestern Minnesota are up 24 percent but down slightly for local, Iron Range and Twin Cities residents.

At the end of February, UMD had a small drop in applicants from the Northland but a 9 percent increase from the Rochester, Minn., area.

John and Kathy Benson's daughter, Raeya, is a senior at Proctor High School. She wouldn't have been able to attend St. Scholastica without the $12,000-a-year Benedictine scholarship the college has promised her, John Benson said.

Raeya applied for more than 20 scholarships; the family is also considering a student loan.

Benson, a Minnesota Department of Transportation bridge worker, was firm about finding a way to pay for college .

"If you don't have school, you're not going to get a job," Benson said. "I want my kids to have a college education."

Jacobson's son, Eddie, is at the top of Cloquet Senior High School class and has been accepted to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and the University of Rochester in New York. The family awaits additional admission and financial assistance news from other colleges .

Jacobson has known he would lose his job in the timber industry for some time and has planned for it, but he's still feeling some stress, he said.

"I have faith that people less fortunate find ways to get it done, and the kids are motivated and want to do this; so, we'll find a way to get it done," he said. Record Number: f6e082301f1ceaa120769df195708368665ee62d
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