Bumper to Bumper Economy

The affects of the economy is playing a huge role in America and everyone has been affected in one way or another. But what about the young adults that are collecting more debt every year like it’s going out of style?

Enrolled college students are trying to hold on to getting a great education while prices continue to skyrocket. With Maine’s unemployment rate at 8.1%, finding a job is now so much harder without a college degree. How is an ambitious young adult suppose to over come the job market by going to college if they can’t afford the college price tag?

The student body at the University of Maine runs into examples constantly that are in direct relation to the poor economy. It’s the more expensive milk they drink with breakfast, it’s the over priced book resting on their desk, the over priced meals at lunch and the major example, the expensive tuition.  

Maine’s poor economy is defiantly taking a huge toll on the University of Maine and in return affecting every one of its students. For resident students that have to buy a meal plan they’re in for a 9.28% increase this school year compared to 2008. All the students have to face the 5.8% increase for in-state tuition compared to last year. Student enrollment is up but it is estimated those numbers will start to decrease due to the climbing tuition prices and many will be forced to drop out.

With prices continuing to increase students are searching for easy ways to save money; living off campus provides great solution. By living off campus students can avoid increasing room and board rates, and eating on campus where each meal can cost up to eleven dollars.

However, commuter students have to deal with one of the biggest pains on campus that will always be around; parking. It can be assumed that with more students moving off campus to save money, more are driving to school taking up more parking spaces.

It’s too early to tell if the 2010 school year will endear more parking frustration than 2009 but the student body is already talking about how much they dread fighting for parking spaces. 

  According to Lisa Haberzettl, who wrote a compelling article to the Maine Campus in 2009, parking services are giving out more permits than there are parking spaces. “For every residential parking space on campus, parking services issued 1.2 parking permits, 1.6 permits for every commuter space and 1.9 permits for every staff space”.

 To solve this problem does the University find somewhere to expand parking, or do they decrease the number of cars on campus.

The economy has managed to affect everything in a college student’s daily life from the increase food and tuition prices, to find a parking spot. The 2010 school year and years to come will defiantly unmask exactly how much it really changed college life.