ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION

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Nyquist wins
Kentucky Derby

05.08.16

Colt is fourth consecutive favorite

to ride to victory. SPORTS, 1C

EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION

COLLEGE TUITION DEBT:

CRIPPLING

REALITY

Route 35
work racks
up $76M
in overruns
Officials still havent explained how
$23M of the extra costs was spent
RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

Cost overruns for reconstructing 12.5 miles of the

superstorm Sandy-battered Route 35 have topped $76
million including paying contractors millions of dollars to remain idle for months making it one of the
most expensive roadway projects in the states history,
an Asbury Park Press investigation found.
The final price tag for the reconstruction will hit
$341 million a cost that is 31 times more per mile than
a typical road cost in New Jersey, the Press found. That
is three times the money the state government spends
each year to keep its bridges in working order.
Because of the overruns, state taxpayers will likely
end up footing a greater share of the reconstruction
See ROADS, Page 10A
Traffic
moves
alongside
construction
on Route 35
in Bay Head
in 2014.
FILE PHOTO

About a quarter of students graduate with excessive debt, with those who
are low-income and those who take loans but dont graduate hurt the most.
KALA KACHMAR @NEWSQUIP

Editors note: This is the final installment in our series of stories on the high price of education leading up
to our ONE NATION: Education event Tuesday in
Asbury Park.
For a short time, Vanessa Iampaglia considered
selling her eggs to pay for college.
At $8,000 a pop, the invasive procedure would have
helped with the $85,000 in loans she needed to pay for
her education. Between classes and working 35-plus
hours a week at multiple jobs, however, she didnt have
time to drive to the doctors office each day for the required medication injections.
Even without the egg donation, the Point Pleasant
native has paid down a good portion of her debt, but
See DEBT, Page 10A

INSIDE
Jesse Lee Herdman of the Asbury Park band Accidental Seabirds can relate to the pain of high college costs. STORY, 9A

$13,303

$4,596

The state has the fourthhighest average tuition

and fees at its public,
four-year schools. The
average 2015-16 price
(not including room and
board) is $13,303.

The state has the 13th

highest average tuition
and fees at its public,
two-year colleges. The
average 2015-16 cost is
$4,596, and the national
average is $3,962.

As primary nears,
whats the mood
of Jersey voters?
MIKE DAVIS @BYMIKEDAVIS

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW

Hear experts speak out about the high cost of education at
the ONE NATION: Education forum Tuesday. Hosted by
USA TODAY, the Asbury Park Press and Rock the Vote, it will
be held at House of Independents in Asbury Park. Doors open
at 6 p.m. $10 general admission; 18+ to attend; 21+ to drink.
Visit on.app.com/onenation for details and tickets. Use the
#ONENATION hashtag to share your story and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

RED BANK - On some blocks, downtown Broad

Street has the vibrant, quirky feel of a Main Street
USA, with luxury furniture stores, an arcade and restaurants with a 45-minute wait.
And elsewhere Broad Street is a shell of its former
self.
Were in downtown Red Bank and theres a dozen
empty stores here, said Todd Katz, a real estate agent
from Ocean Township. In a strong economy, every
store would be filled and there would be people walking
down the street. I see very few people shopping and
walking down the street right now.
Katz doesnt know who hes voting for in the November general election, at least not in the expected showSee VOTERS, Page 14A

STAFF PHOTOS

From left: Meghan Mathis, a seventh-grade language arts special education teacher in Somerset County; Vanessa
Impaglia speaks about her college debt at her mothers home in Point Pleasant Borough; Christyn Gionfriddo, 29,
lives at home with her parents with $92,004 in student loan debt; Jamie Bradley, 27, of Brick, a quality coordinator
for New Jersey Resources, is a Rutgers graduate who has $145,734 in college tuition debt remaining to pay.

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VOLUME 137
NUMBER 110
SINCE 1879