A survey sponsored by student loan provider Sallie Mae found that nationally, students are taking out fewer loans than previous years.
At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, however, that's not the case.
"Our experience is quite a bit different than that," said Craig Munier, director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
UNL's financial aid requests are up by 10 percent, Munier said.
Munier said UNL sets its financial aid budget for the year well before it knows how many requests it has and how many people will qualify.
"We had more students applying for financial aid than ever before," Munier said.
The Sallie Mae survey included 800 students and 804 parents.
The study also found a 5 percent decrease of families taking on debt from 47 percent in 2007 to 42 percent in 2008.
The study also found that more students are considering taking a year off instead of going into debt to pay for college. In 2007, 67 percent of students said they'd rather borrow than not attend college. That number was down to 53 percent in 2008.
That wasn't an option for Stephanie Keener.
"I'd rather just finish school as soon as possible," she said.
Keener is a junior business major from Kansas. She is also a rarity, according to Munier.
"We think we have seen a higher instance of students staying closer to home," Munier said.
He said when the numbers for the 2009 enrollment are released, the in-state numbers will be up, but the out-of-state numbers will be lower than those of past years.
One of the reasons Keener had to take out financial aid is because of the out-of-state tuition. She said, on average, she receives $6,000 in loans each semester. She also takes out a loan from Wells Fargo Bank.
Keener said she knows she'll have a large debt waiting for her after college.
"It'll probably be around $10,000 to $20,000, and that's not counting the debt my parents are taking on," she said.
The study said most parents feel they can send their child to college, but there are concerns. Among these, 31 percent of those surveyed worried about the total loss in savings and investments, and 23 percent are facing the concern about job losses.
Munier has a theory about why UNL's numbers are so different from that of the Sallie Mae study.
"I do think there are a significant number of schools that have moved to the federal loan program," Munier said. "Consequently, schools aren't borrowing through Sallie Mae and other traditional loan providers like they once did."
michaelschaefer@dailynebraskan.com
BOB
Student borrowing by the numbers
14 percent of college paid for by student borrowing
9 percent of college paid for by parent borrowing
6,547 average amount in dollars students borrow to pay for college
37 percent of students who decided not to attend a school based on cost in 2009
38 percent of students who said post-graduation income would affect their borrowing decisions
source: How America Pays for College Survey
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