On top of these financial implications, there are also the looming mental and psychological effects that debt has on students’ mental health. Many students experience profound stress, anxiety and feelings related to shame when thinking about their financial situations related to school. In a 2021 survey, one in 14 student borrowers said they experienced suicidal ideation because of taxing debt situations.
Two high level Stony Brook officials received $300,000 each in housing loans from The Stony Brook Foundation (SBF) that they were not required to pay back, according to a recent New York State Comptroller’s report.
Student loan default rates have fallen across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Education, marking the first time in seven years that the rates have decreased.
A recent survey by Gallup showed that 50 percent of black college graduates held more than $25,000 in student loan debt, compared to 34 percent of white graduates.
Stony Brook University, formerly praised as one of the most affordable gems in the crown of public universities, has slowly been losing its luster as tuition fees continue to increase. In the midst of an economic recession, Stony Brook has experienced a series of budgetary problems that have ravaged through the SUNY system like an epidemic.
Stony Brook students have dodged a huge financial bullet with the passage of the Bipartisan Student Loans Certainty Act. The bill was signed into law Aug. 9, 2013 for the purpose of reforming a part of the 1965 Higher Education Act.
