2008 Woodie Awards
Professor offers tips for dealing with student debt
Jason Morrow
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
Jason Morrow
Staff writer
There are many benefits from graduating from a university such as Murray State, but with the large debt many students go into, those benefits may be easily forgotten.
Rebecca Braboy, sophomore from Kevil, Ky., described the thought of her debt as overwhelming and depressing.
"It's very discouraging, but there's nothing I can really do about it right now," Braboy said. "I know that right after I get out of college I may not get the greatest job, so I'm just going to try to save up money for the first payments that will come in after I graduate."
David Durr, professor of economics and finance, said he believes there is nothing for a student to worry about as long as the student starts out by living on a feasible budget and staying away from credit cards.
"It's just so tempting to get a credit card and get even more in debt," Durr said. "The best advice that I could give to a student is to go back to some basic budgeting. Budgeting is really managing the inflows and the outflows."
Durr also stressed the importance for students to invest and start saving money as soon as they can.
"When you save and invest, the money you don't spend compounds," Durr said. "It will grow exponentially, so the greatest asset on your side is time."
Durr also pointed to a new Web site designed to help students with their budgeting matters. Murray State signed up with the Web site to make it accessible to all University students, and cashcourse.org/msu was created.
"I started looking at it and saw the great information," Durr said. "I thought, my goodness, why wouldn't we do this?"
The Web site is designed to help students with financial questions. It discusses many issues from budgeting after graduation, to learning about buying or leasing a car. Durr hopes the site will be put onto syllabuses and mentioned in freshmen orientations across campus.
"We're not trying to push this down any person's throat," Durr said, "but with a student with a financial question, this is a great place to start."
Durr said he believes if students are responsible when they leave college and do not splurge their money, the debt will work its way down.
"I strongly advocate that students have a budget, be disciplined, and even though it may seem insignificant, start an investment plan immediately," Durr said. "What you can't get back are years you didn't invest."
Jason Morrow can be reached at jason.morrow@murraystate.edu.
Staff writer
There are many benefits from graduating from a university such as Murray State, but with the large debt many students go into, those benefits may be easily forgotten.
Rebecca Braboy, sophomore from Kevil, Ky., described the thought of her debt as overwhelming and depressing.
"It's very discouraging, but there's nothing I can really do about it right now," Braboy said. "I know that right after I get out of college I may not get the greatest job, so I'm just going to try to save up money for the first payments that will come in after I graduate."
David Durr, professor of economics and finance, said he believes there is nothing for a student to worry about as long as the student starts out by living on a feasible budget and staying away from credit cards.
"It's just so tempting to get a credit card and get even more in debt," Durr said. "The best advice that I could give to a student is to go back to some basic budgeting. Budgeting is really managing the inflows and the outflows."
Durr also stressed the importance for students to invest and start saving money as soon as they can.
"When you save and invest, the money you don't spend compounds," Durr said. "It will grow exponentially, so the greatest asset on your side is time."
Durr also pointed to a new Web site designed to help students with their budgeting matters. Murray State signed up with the Web site to make it accessible to all University students, and cashcourse.org/msu was created.
"I started looking at it and saw the great information," Durr said. "I thought, my goodness, why wouldn't we do this?"
The Web site is designed to help students with financial questions. It discusses many issues from budgeting after graduation, to learning about buying or leasing a car. Durr hopes the site will be put onto syllabuses and mentioned in freshmen orientations across campus.
"We're not trying to push this down any person's throat," Durr said, "but with a student with a financial question, this is a great place to start."
Durr said he believes if students are responsible when they leave college and do not splurge their money, the debt will work its way down.
"I strongly advocate that students have a budget, be disciplined, and even though it may seem insignificant, start an investment plan immediately," Durr said. "What you can't get back are years you didn't invest."
Jason Morrow can be reached at jason.morrow@murraystate.edu.
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