This is a part in a series of articles covering the issue of student loans. In this piece, the Ghostwriter investigated how various WA students, both past and present, have dealt with and felt about student loans. For more articles, see Student Loans: An Investigative Report.

By Andy Dunn & Ethan Walshe
Staff Writer & Editor-in-Chief 

Undoubtedly, the college process is one of the most stressful and important processes a high-schooler encounters in their years at Westford Academy. One element that often contributes to the stress can be the matter of paying for college.

Students at WA have a number of different experiences with college financing. Some have college funds, some receive scholarships, and many take out student loans.

With the financial crisis in 2007-08, for most families, finances became a more vital role in the college decision process. This focus on the cost of college is chiefly responsible for the significant increase in applications from WA students to in-state public universities.

During a recent advisory period, a handful of WA Class of 2013 graduates came to speak to the current senior class and hopefully alleviate some of the stress associated with the process and assist students through the difficult decision. Two of these students were Erin Shaughnessey and Nick Macmaster.

Shaughnessey, a current freshman at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, applied to five schools and considered finances throughout the process. Ultimately, Shaugnessey believes finances played a significant role in her decision to attend UMass Amherst.

“Going to UMass Amherst, I wanted to put myself into the position that, later on, if I decided that I did want to go [to grad school], it could be an opportunity that I could take advantage of,” said Shaugnessey.

For Macmaster, finances were an even more important part of his decision. By paying his own way to attend UMass Lowell, Macmaster is aware of the loan he has to take out, he will be paying into his twenties and thirties.

“I chose UMass Lowell because it gave me the best that I need for the amount of money I’m spending. UMass has the same accreditation level as a lot more expensive schools, so I am getting the same quality of education but for a lot cheaper price,” said Macmaster.

Current WA Senior Ian Sherriff has already decided he will also be attending UMass Lowell for their engineering program next Fall. Finances played a prominent role in this decision.

“Finances were very important for us because we knew we couldn’t afford a very expensive college,” says Sherriff. “UMass Lowell was just what we were looking for … I didn’t want to be paying over $100,000 to go for school for four years.”

Conversely, current senior Olivia Peterson is not letting a finances play a factor in her college decision.

“Money is not really dictating my decision right now,” said Peterson. “Not to say it’s not a problem, but my parents and I have decided I can go where I want to go instead of being limited.”

It’s a significant possibility that Peterson will have to take out sizable loans to pay for her education. However, she does plan to pay off the loan by attending graduate school and landing a job that will help pay off her loans.

For Andrew Salvo, another WA senior, student loans are not a “high concern” for his college financial plan. However, Salvo is aware of many students where loans play a prevalent role in the college discussion.

“The reality is sometimes blind, when students are taking out large loans,” noted Salvo. “They think they will be able to pay them back in the future yet never create a realistic plan to pay them back.”

On the decision to attend a state school for financial reasons, Salvo sees this decision as intelligent if the debt will be significantly less.

Salvo sees “the excessive corporate greed” of banks and the government, making a profit on students by offering them unlimited loans, as a trap that catches naive students and changes them into “victims to the greed of corporate America.”

Sherriff sees the value of the name-brand of the college one goes to as only having value for their first job. After that, he sees one’s actual knowledge and job experience as much more important.

As a believer in the “you get out what you put in” mentality, Sherriff seems to be less swayed by the glamour of more prestigious colleges than the average high-schooler, saying, “people believe their education is the end of line and then they start working for the rest of your lives … you really have to think of it as a continuation … you don’t want to rack up a huge debt for four years of your life just so that you can say you went to some expensive college.”

“In the long run, it doesn’t matter what college you went to as long as you are successful,” added Sherriff.

Overall, with a recent economic recession still on the minds of many parents, and potentially students, compounded with college tuition costs increasing at a rate three times greater than inflation, students and families should be having these difficult, yet vitally important, discussions on the financial realities of college.