Alternatives to
Student Loans
EMILY OSTERTAG
eosterta@unca.edu -
Staff Writer
Many UNC Asheville
students work to pay their
own way through school
as tuition rates and loan
debt continue to increase,
according to university
officials.
“I basically paid as I
went. I mean, I didn't
get any loans and after
financial aid ran out I was
just paying myself.” said
Sasha Thomas Hussey,
UNCA alumnus and
manager of the campus’
media design lab.
In 2007.45 percent of
traditional undergradu
ates — students between
the ages of 16 and 24 —
worked while enrolled
full-time, while 80 percent
worked while enrolled
part-time, according to the
National Center for Educa
tion Statistics.
“1 usually worked at
least two jobs at a time and
sometimes three,” Hussey
said, “First I worked in
the recycling center on
campus, and then I worked
at Beaucatcher Cinemas
on Tunnel Road. So, I
was kind of combining
different jobs. I think I
was a tutor at some point
and I worked with my dad,
although I wasn’t getting
paid for that.”
Hussey said in 2002,
when he began college
fresh out of high school,
the yearly cost of full-time
tuition and fees at UNCA
was $2,954.
According to the ca
shier's office, the cost of
full-time tuition and fees
for the 2014-15 academic
year is $3,196.
Hussey said working
multiple jobs to pay his
tuition kept him a part-
time student his entire
undergraduate career.
“It took me seven years
to graduate,” Hussey said.
“There’s no hurry, you
know.”
Hussey, 30, lives in
Weaverville, and said he
lived with his family in or
der to get by while paying
his way through college.
“I wasn’t paying a full
amount for rent and food.
I think because I was
working for my dad at the
time, I was given a break
on those living expenses,”
Hussey said. “So it was
kind of a unique situa
tion.”
He said after graduating
in 2009, living on his own
proved to be a challenge,
even though he did not
have to contend with stu
dent loan payments.
“Making enough money
at Papa John’s, that wasn’t
L ^
Photo by Emily Ostertag
Philip Turbyfill, former univer
sity bursar, managed UNC
Asheville’s financial affairs
easy,” Hussey said. “Min
imum wage is not easy to
live on at all.”
According to Nation
al Center for Education
statistics, in 2011 the
College Board estimat
ed student loan volume
increased from $23 billion
during the academic year
of 1992-93 to $100 billion
during the academic year
of 2007-08, with about
$25 billion from private
loan sources.
Mathilda Monroe, a
30-year-old environmen
tal science student, said
she works 20-23 hours a
week in order to pay her
tuition out of pocket.
“Never have I, where
I’m paying for my own
college, ever gotten any
kind of a loans or financial
aid,” Monroe said.
As a waitress and
hostess at a downtown
restaurant, Monroe said
she makes almost as much
during the summer as her
husband, Nate, does build
ing houses, but during
the off-season her income
suffers.
“In the summer, I did
work full-time, but once
school started I now
work Friday. Saturday.
Sunday and sometimes
Wednesday.” Monroe said.
“Although, now that this
semester is kicking into
high-gear. I don’t want to
do that anymore.”
Monroe said the pay
ment plan UNCA offers
allows her to divide her
tuition into more manage
able amounts.
Phillip Thrbyflll,
UNCA’s former bursar,
said Tuition Management
Systems provides services
the university cannot offer
in-house.
“While a payment plan
typically is not considered
a loan, the federal gov
ernment views a payment
plan that is for more than
three payments a loan. In
being considered a loan,
you have to provide the
student with the same type
of paperwork — truth and
SEE LOANS ON PAGE 2
New Leadership hem the Nerth
Photo by Amanda Cline - Photo Editor
UNCA students and staff welcome Chancellor Grant on Jan. 12.
EMMA ALEXANDER
nalexand@unca.edu -
Staff Writer
After being appointed last August,
Chancellor Mary Grant began her lead
ership at the start of 2015 by personally
connecting and speaking with students.
“The greatest benefit is getting to know .
the people that are part of your commu
nity,” Grant said. “Really learning what’s
on people’s minds so that people come up
and talk to you. That’s a really important
part of the way we work, the way we
get to know each other, and build on this
institution.”
Grant was president of the Massachu
setts College of Liberal Arts since 2002.
She said she was also given the opportu
nity to serve as chancellor for the Univer
sity of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2012,
but turned down the offer.
“It has to be the right fit,” Grant said.
“These are complicated times and these
can be crazy jobs. It really isn’t just a job.
It’s a life you’ve chosen. That is a great
school, byt it just felt like it wasn’t at the
right time.”
Grant said she had been working on a
couple of projects at MCLA.
“The project was so close. I worried
that if I took my eye off that ball some
thing might happen to that as well. So a
number of things made me step back and
SEE LEADERSHIP ON PAGE 2
Tliitioii Rates
Are on the Rise
ASHLEY ELDER
aelder@unca.edu -
Staff Writer
UNC Asheville reported
a 54 percent increase in
tuition over the past five
years.
“It’s already expensive.
I feel like we already pay
too much,” said Whitney
Rooks, sophomore.
According to the uni
versity fact book, tuition
rose by $1,277 since 2010.
Meal plans rose to $3,334,
an increase of 11 percent
over five years.
“Increased tuition affects
the ability of students to
get an education, plus
increases the debt load
for students once they
graduate,” said Rudy Be-
harrysingh, mathematics
lecturer.
Rooks, a transfer student
from Cape Fear Communi
ty College in Wilmington,
said she began her second
semester last week.
“I’m used to going to
school where Pell Grants
cover everything, with
some left over,” she said.
“Instead of having mon
ey left over, I have to pay
it back now.”
With at least four semes
ters to go before graduat
ing with an atmospheric
science degree. Rooks said
she worries about finding a
job after college so she can
pay back her loans.
“It could actually skew
students’ decisions in the
near future,” said Shawu
Smathers, 35, UNCA
alumnus. “They are faced
with a tough decision
because economically, it
may be better to not go as
far or educate themselves
as extensively.
In some fields this
affects what major they
might go into.”
According to the UNCA
Fact Book, fees increased
by 5.5 percent between
the 2012-13 and 2013-14
school years.
Total fees have increased
31 percent in the past five
years.
“The main justifica
tion for fee increases
is to partially offset the
draconian budgetary
constraints imposed on the
university system by the
state,” Beharrysingh said.
“This is partially due to
the constraints from the
federal government. And,
of course it is all related to
the near-depression state
of the country around the
2007-09 time.”
The consumer price
index rose by 1.6 percent
in 2014, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics
website.
The index measures
consumer inflation by the
change in consumer prices
for a representative group
of products and services.
It determines annual
living cost adjustments
to Social Security and
employee paychecks.
As a college student.
Rooks said she struggles
SEE TUITION ON PAGE 2
E-mail Scam
Prompts FBI
PSA to Students
DANIEL HALL
dhali@unca.edu -
Staff Writer
On Jan. 14, UNC Ashe
ville students received
a PSA circulated by the
FBI’s Internet Crimes
Complaint Center, re
garding a scam targeting
university students.
Eric Boyce, assistant
vice chancellor of public
safety, said no UNCA
students reported falling
victim to the scam, but he
felt the information was
important enough to pass
along.
It is called the “Work-
at-Home” scam. First, the
student is contacted with
a job offer via email. The
job requires the student to
receive funds, then transfer
a portion of those funds to
a designated bank account,
keeping the remainder as
payment for service.
According to the an
nouncement, students who
become involved in the
scam can face serious con
sequences. The bank may
close the student’s account
due to fraudulent activity,
and there is the possibility
of federal prosecution.
What the student might
not realize is that the
money they received and
transferred was obtained
illegally — a crime in
which they are now com-
plicit.
“Effectively they be
come the mule, if you will,
for a money-laundering
scheme,” said Jeff Brown,
chief information officer.
Brown said the system
used for student and fac
ulty email, Google Apps
for Education, has a robust
filter that catches most
phishing and spam emails
before students see them.
However, the system is
not impenetrable. Brown
said that when a new
scam surfaces, or if old
ones find a new vector of
attack, they can make it
through the filters. He said
Information Technology
Services will generally
send out an email notify
ing students of the threat.
Adam Bull, a civil and
criminal defense attor
ney in Asheville, said
the student’s role in the
scheme is to stall inves
tigative efforts, giving
the real perpetrators the
opportunity to evade de
tection and capture.
“It throws off the
investigation. And then
they have to go through
this thing where, is the
student actually involved?
Knowingly involved?
Unknowingly involved?”
Bull said.
Bull said the perpetra
tors play a shell game with
the stolen money, moving
it between accounts while
investigators try to track
SEE SCAM ON PAGE 2