When Elisha McKinney graduated this spring from Bevill State Community College, she became the first in her family to earn a college degree. Now, as she takes online summer classes toward a bachelor’s degree, she marks another first that she hopes also will be her last: She took out a student loan.
“I did everything I had to” to avoid borrowing money, says McKinney, 34, a married mother of three who worked full time while also a full-time student. “I’m nervous.”
But as the costs associated with going to college have increased, loans have gotten harder to avoid.