April17,2017

JamesPaulLankford
1015N.BroadwayAve.Suite310
OklahomaCity,OK73102

DearSenatorJamesPaulLankford,

Ihopeyouaredoingwellsir.MynameisRachelRosiere,andIamastudentatNorthern
OklahomaCollege.IamwritinginregardstotheissuesIhavestartedtonoticewithour
highereducationprograms.ThoughIfeelthatthelistislong,thereareafewthingsthatI
wantedtotouchoninhopesofmakingthehighschooltransitionalittleeasieronfuture
collegestudents.ThefinancialaspectofcollegeIfeeltobethesolepurposeoffailure
whenitcomestoourstudentdropoutrateandjustallaroundcompletefailure.Obviously
Irecognizehowbroadofasubjectthatis,butspecificallyIhaveafewissuesIthink
somelightshouldbeshedon.

Imightbeapartoftheminority,butIattendschoolfulltime,aswellasworkfulltime
andcatertoafiveyearold,whilebeingasingleparent.Timeisnotandhasneverbeen
onmyside.InordertoaffordschoolaswellasthecostoflivingIhavetoworkatleast
fiftyhoursaweek.Ifeellikeyouarestigmatizedasafailureifyouwriteofftheideaof
college.Soironically,Iamincollegeaccruingdebttopotentiallygivemyself,andmy
child,abetterfuture,noguaranteethough.In2012themediansalaryforacollege
graduatebetweentheagesof25and32was46,000$versussomeonewithahighschool
diplomawassittingat30,000$(JP.Contributor).Clearlytheideawithcollegeistogive
yourselfabetterlife.Iusemybursartoonlypayformycollegeneeds,likebooks,
andonlineaccesscodes.Generallyyouneedbothnowforaclass.Takingthirteenhours
andpayingonlyforthenecessitiesoftheseclassesIhaverackedupafivehundreddollar
bill.Materialdoesnotcomewiththeclass.Weareexpectedtopayaroundeleven
hundredaclassnotincludingbookcostoraccesscodecost.Wheredoesthisseemfair?
Therehastobesomethingthatcanbedonetobemoreinfavorofthestudent.Idont
agreewiththeideaofhavingtospend,atminimumanotheronehundredandfiftydollars
inordertofollowtheclasswithabookorbeabletodothehomeworkwithanaccess
code.AnotherhiddenfeeIhavefoundwhileattendingschoolisthecostassociated
withparking.Letmegetthisstraight,IpayforaccesstoagymfacilityIhaveyettouse
oncethisyear,butnopartofmytuitioncoversmyparking?Aparkingpasscostaround
onehundredandsixtydollarsandwilllastyoubothinthefallandspring,butyouare
designatedtoacertaingarageorlocation.Dependingonyourclasstimes,parkingisnot
alwaysaguaranteeandifyouparkanywhereotherthanthedesignatedarea,expectafee.
Idefinitelyfeelstudentsrelatewiththeoverwhelmingfinancialresponsibilitythatcomes
alongwithcollege.Collegesareinvestingmoneyonexpansionandimprovingfacilities.
ThoughIunderstandtheneedforupkeep,aretheseadditionsworththecostwithcollege
debtcreepinguptothirtythousandperstudent(S.Yagana).Asastudent,Ifeelthereis
moreworkingagainstmethanwithmewhenitcomestosecondaryeducation.

AtypicalyearatNorthernwillcostastudent,withinstatetuition,rightaroundfour
thousanddollars.Since1978weseeanincreaseintuitionat1228%(S.Yagana).This
doesnotcoverthecostoflivingorbooksandsuppliesneededforclass.Thetotalcost
youwouldbelookingatforclasses,supplies,livingandroomandboardwouldberight
aroundthirteenthousand.Thisdoesnotincludefinancialaidorothergrantsand
scholarshipsstudentsmaybeoffered.40%ofcollegegraduateswithfederalloans
couldntrecallreceivinganyconsultationwithregardstotheirstudentloandebt(D.
Harriman).Pursuingahighereducationrequiresyoutopayeachsemesterinfullbeforeit
ends.Thuscausingmoststudentstotakeoutaloanorstresstheirlivingexpensestobe
puttowardsstrictlytheireducation.Subsidizedloansallowstudentstomakepayments
oncetheyarenolongerconsideredparttimestudentswhereasunsubsidizedloansrequire
immediatepaymentassoonasitisreceived.Thefederalgovernmentcoversinterestona
subsidizedloanwhilestillpursuinganeducation.Interestonaloanrightnowisgenerally
betweentwopercentandeightpercent.Anaveragecollegestudentgraduateswith
twentyfivethousanddollarsindebt.Ataninterestrateofsixpercent,paymentonthis
loaneachmonthwouldbearoundtwohundreddollars,annuallyaddinguptorightat
twentyfourhundredbasedona20yearterm(D.Harriman).Imyselfbeingacollege
studentcouldabsolutelynotaffordthatpaymentrightnow.Havingtopaythatwould
absolutelybegroundstodropout.Mostgraduatewithafouryeardegreeandmaking
aroundfortythousandannually.Nexttoamortgage,theschoolloanistypicallythe
highestpaymenttheyhave.Wherewehavedroppedinterestratesontheseloans,
institutionsturnaroundandraisetuitioncosts.Wenowsee1.2trilliondollarsinschool
loandebtandunemploymentratesat8.5%(JP.Contributor).Acatchtwentytwo
maybe?

Imsureatthispointthequestioniswhatwouldyoulikemetodoaboutthis?Asone
ofourrespectedstatesenatorsIwantyoutoinvesttimeandeducateyourselfonhowthe
systemworks.Howthesystemhassetusup,asstudents,tofail.Thedropoutratefor
collegestudentsisatwaytoohigh.Howscaryofathoughttofailbeforeyouevenhave
begun.Ithinkifwerecognizedandfigureoutawaytocutsomeofthesehiddenfeeswe
findwhileattendingcollegeaswellasfigureoutamorereasonablecostandappropriate
timetopaythesesecondaryschoolsystemsback,wewouldseemuchmoresuccess.Isee
alotofunnecessarycostsassociatedinareaswedontreallyseenecessary,thosewho
utilizethegym,couldmaybeputthatmoneytowardsparkingorevenbooks.Ithinkwe
candobetterasastateandinstitutiontohelpourstudentssucceed.Iamexcitedtosee
theideasyoucancomeupwithtomaybehelpoursecondaryeducationsystems.Ithink
thesuccessratewillgrowexponentiallywithjustthesmallestofchanges.

Sincerley,

RachelRosiere,NorthernOklahomaStudent
9024E.68thst
Stillwater,OK74074