TAMPA, Fla. — University of South Florida students haven't even started the semester yet and some are already concerned about cost.
- Florida has fourth-highest student loan debt in U.S.
- Sen. Scott visited with students, faculty on Thursday
- Financial literacy among topics discussed
- More Education headlines
"My main concerns are about finances," says freshman Brandon Roses. "That's why I'm staying at home and commuting to college."
Money is also weighing heavy on the mind of senior Britney Deas. The USF Student Body President plans to head to law school after graduation.
"A lot of lawyers have hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt," said Deas.
Sen. Rick Scott joined students and Bay-area faculty Thursday for a roundtable discussion highlighting the need for affordable college education.
"We've got a lot of student debt, we've got to figure out how to deal with that. It's impacting these students' ability to buy a house or business or do a lot of things after they graduate," said Scott.
Student loan debt in the United States is the highest it has ever been. According to Forbes, the debt totals $1.5 trillion.
Florida is the state with the fourth-highest balance, totaling more than $72 billion. All this debt means many college students will likely leave campus in a financial bind.
The roundtable discussion stressed the importance of financial literacy and finding ways to cut costs.
Meantime, students are working on some of those solutions.
"In my student body president's role, I’m working toward sales tax exemption on university text books," said Deas.
"We also want to create student government scholarships for students."
Scott says he will travel the state gathering ideas on how to lower the cost of a higher education.