Wisconsin family’s good choice reflects students’ better debt planning
At 18, Robyn Shemwell’s heart was set on attending Loyola University in Chicago to study social work.
“I was ready to take out $40,000 each year in student loans because at 18 years old, I had no reference point for that amount of money,” Shemwell, now 23, recalls. “I simply thought that all colleges would cost this amount and that this was a normal amount for students to take out in loans each year.”
She feels bad when she remembers the tears in her parents’ eyes as they told her they wouldn’t cosign a private loan.
“My hardworking, middle-class parents were upset with themselves for not being able to provide me with a ludicrous amount of tuition money so that I could go to my dream school,” Shemwell says.
After graduating from Madison West High School, Shemwell reluctantly went to a less expensive state school. She quickly grew to love it. Now an associate recruiter for ManpowerGroup RPO in Milwaukee, she has two bachelor’s degrees, a certificate and student loan debt from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee totaling less than one year’s tuition at Loyola.
