{"id":11356,"date":"2023-08-28T14:49:20","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T14:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/the-bottom-line-on-the-student-debt-crisis-and-affording-college\/"},"modified":"2023-08-28T14:49:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T14:49:21","slug":"the-bottom-line-on-the-student-debt-crisis-and-affording-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation. For those who aren\u2019t familiar \u2014 BL is a Boston-based, nonprofit that works to end the income gaps in degree attainment rates in order to elevate racial equity and economic mobility for students of color. So, how does it work? BL\u2019s advisors connect students to colleges that are low-cost and high-quality, reducing student debt while at the same time, leading to higher incomes. According to independent research, \u201cThe average starting salary for a Bottom Line recent graduate is two times the amount of the average family income of its student population.\u201d<\/p>\n

The student debt crisis is not the primary focus of Bottom Line\u2019s work; however, affordability is a key emphasis in the organization\u2019s approach. According to BL\u2019s CEO, Steve Col\u00f3n, \u201cOur approach centers on students leaving school with low debt. The current average for our students is $18K of student debt, compared to the national average of $32,829.\u201d<\/p>\n

The magnitude of student debt is regularly covered by news outlets, but another aspect of the crisis is that first-generation students, many of whom come from low-income backgrounds and are African American or Latinx, are \u201cdisproportionately more likely to incur higher levels of debt.\u201d For example, the National Center for Education Statistics reports that 86% of Black college students take out federal loans versus 70% for white students. According to recent statistics, Black students graduate with $25,000 more debt on average than white students, and four years later nearly 50% of Black graduates owe 12.5% more than they first borrowed. Researchers also found that women, overall, hold two-thirds of the nation\u2019s $1.75 trillion in student loan debt. Black women feel the heaviest inequities.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

According to Don Heller, an expert on student debt and the retired provost and vice president of academic affairs at the University of San Francisco, Bottom Line is moving in the right direction by pointing students toward low-cost, high quality higher education options. Heller suggests the following for students: 1.) Consider starting college at a community college and then transferring to a four-year university when pursuing a bachelor’s degree; 2.) \u201cAvoid the temptation to attend a pricey private institution, and consider a public university in your state.\u201d However, he cautions, that \u201cdepending on the amount of financial aid offered, the net price of a private college could end up being less than a public university;\u201d 3.) Do everything you can to graduate in four years. \u201cGo to college knowing what you want to study, and work with your advisor carefully to plan out a program of study that will allow you to meet all your requirements\u201d in four years or even less; 4.) Consider taking courses during the summer at a community college or another low-cost, public 4-year university to help earn credits that will allow you to graduate early; 5.) Look for a work study job on campus if you qualify – \u201cwork on campus has been shown to be a positive influence on time-to-degree, and earning money through work study can help students avoid borrowing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering the complexities of the college application and financial aid processes, as well as increasing college tuition costs, getting into and affording college is a challenge for students. Those students who are first generation often have access to fewer resources to bolster their success. Moreover, they are more likely to attend high schools that lack advanced coursework and have unwieldy student-to-counselor ratios. Bottom Line is working to counter the lack of resources that these student have by providing ample advising and support.<\/p>\n

Of note, BL\u2019s model for college student success was the subject of a 2021 research study. University of Virginia professor Ben Castleman and Texas A&M University professor Andrew Barr found: \u201cWhat\u2019s especially notable is that Bottom Line appears equally effective across sites and for students of various backgrounds. Bottom Line also primarily serves students of color, so \u2014 if scaled broadly \u2014 intensive advising could increase both economic mobility and lead to greater racial equity in college degree attainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For BL\u2019s CEO Col\u00f3n, issues of persistence, student debt, and equity are personal. He was first generation college student. In his words, \u201cI see myself in the students we serve. My parents migrated from Puerto Rico when they were young, and only one of them was able to graduate from high school. They supported my pursuit of higher education but didn\u2019t know what it would take \u2013 academically, financially, or socially \u2013 to get in or through a postsecondary institution. What I needed most \u2013 and what has driven my career \u2013 are relationships with consistent, caring, and knowledgeable individuals who I could trust to help me make informed choices.\u201d He added, \u201cAs such, I\u2019ve spent most of my adult life at organizations that genuinely believe that these types of relationships are essential to helping students like me not only make informed decisions about college but also graduate and find success\u201d<\/p>\n

BL currently serves roughly 7,000 students through two primary programs – College Access and College Success programs in regional offices in Boston, New York City and Chicago. The organization\u2019s vision is to create a far-reaching ripple effect, launched by the \u201ctransformative power of a college degree and a mobilizing first career.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation. For those who aren\u2019t familiar \u2014 BL is a Boston-based, nonprofit that works to end the income gaps in degree attainment rates in order to elevate racial equity and economic mobility […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nThe \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College | Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-28T14:49:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-28T14:49:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1693234160_0x0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\"},\"headline\":\"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-28T14:49:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-28T14:49:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356\"},\"wordCount\":897,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Leadership\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356\",\"name\":\"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College | Brandiary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-28T14:49:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-28T14:49:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"description\":\"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"width\":381,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Brandiary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College | Brandiary","description":"If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College | Brandiary","og_description":"If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation.","og_url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356","og_site_name":"Brandiary","article_published_time":"2023-08-28T14:49:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-28T14:49:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":750,"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1693234160_0x0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4"},"headline":"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College","datePublished":"2023-08-28T14:49:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-28T14:49:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356"},"wordCount":897,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Leadership"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356","name":"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College | Brandiary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-08-28T14:49:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-28T14:49:21+00:00","description":"If you aren\u2019t familiar with Bottom Line (BL), you should be. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is, and recently gave the organization a $15 million donation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=11356#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The \u201cBottom Line\u201d On The Student Debt Crisis And Affording College"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","name":"Brandiary","description":"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization","name":"Brandiary","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","width":381,"height":100,"caption":"Brandiary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com"],"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11358,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11356\/revisions\/11358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}