If you think community college is a solid solution to avoiding all the financial finagling of college, think again. Starting in the fall, southeastern Virginia’s Tidewater Community College is holding its students more accountable for repaying their federal student loans than Harvard is.
School officials announced that Tidewater will require student borrowers to draft plans to repay their federal financial aid before giving them any dough.
Students will draft budget worksheets. They’ll estimate monthly payments. They’ll even project their salaries based on the careers their majors will prepare them for. And their borrowing histories will not be swept under the rug.
Tidewater school officials explained that they want to make sure students understand the weight of what they borrow and are prepared to pay it back in full.
In 2009-2010, Tidewater students received $31.4 million in federal student loans; the average annual loan was just shy of $4,000.
The budget-savvy community college has campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.
Its own budget? $107.3 million in fiscal 2010, the most recent year available — Tidewater is the 16th largest community college in the United States and the second-largest provider of undergraduate education in Virginia, serving 45,331 students. About 45 percent receive financial aid.
