State candidates owe $3.8M in student loans

Candidates for state office in Florida owe millions of dollars in student loans, a reflection of a soaring student loan debt crisis affecting young people across the country.

State candidates owe an eyepopping $3,826,920 in student loan debt, based on a review of all the candidates’ financial dis- closure forms. That includes 243 major-party candidates running for state House, state Senate and the statewide offices of governor, lieutenant governor, chief financial officer, agriculture commissioner and attorney general.

Among the 10 candidates who were deepest in the red — with net worths ranging from about negative $64,000 to negative

$239,000 — seven would have a positive net worth were it not for student loans. An eighth would almost break even.

The numbers are high even by national averages for undergraduate student debt, though many of the candidates borrowed to attend law school, for which the average debt is about $140,000.

According to the Federal Reserve, as of June 2018, some 44 million Americans owed more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. That’s about $400 billion more than the total owed on car loans. Student loans are now the second highest category of outstanding debt, second only to mortgages.

And the issue is only getting worse. According to an October 2017 study published by the U.S. Department of Education, students in the 2000s borrowed more than those in the 1990s, paid it off at a slower rate and defaulted more often as tuition rates rose.

For state Rep. Amy Mercado, D-Orlando, it’s a combination of two children who are in college still, one in nursing school, one working on an MBA, and Mercado’s own ambitions, which saw her attend school later in life, complete a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree last year.

“It was worth it to me for my personal education, and obviously I want my children to graduate college,” she said. “But the baggage that all these younger kids are going to have on their backs, this is real. I feel it.”

Mercado listed her net worth on her financial disclosure form at negative $151,344.14. She ow es $183,388.70 in student loans. That’s the third highest amount of student debt owed by any state legislative candidate this year, behind state Rep. Nick Duran, DMiami, and state Rep. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, who owe $218,415.80 and $287,934.08, respectively.

At age 44, Mercado is somewhat older than the other two state representatives, who are both in their 30s. All hold advanced degrees, and it’s graduate degrees that are one of the main drivers of the student loan debt crisis nationally.

In Florida, low tuition and the state’s Bright Futures scholarships have kept student loan debt lower among undergraduates than in most other states. But higher tuition rates and the absence of those scholarships mean major jumps in cost for grad students.

Like Duran and Burgess, Broward County state House candidate Emma Collum took out loans to get her undergraduate degree and a law degree from City University of New York’s Public Interest Law School. She also worked as a bartender, lifeguard, swim instructor and other jobs simultaneously. She reported a negative $144,411.75 net worth due to $159,990.62 in student loans.

Student loan debt is everyone’s problem, especially in a state as reliant on property taxes as Florida, Collum said.

“A big problem with this is that in making a long term investment in my education ... it’s the equivalent of mortgage payments a month,” she said. “This is what keeps folks life myself from investing in the real estate market and being larger consumers.”

Collum is running in House District 93, which includes all of Bro ward County east of Dixie Highway and north of Port Everglades. The district leans slightly Republican, and it’s an open seat, with state Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, term-limited out of office. She faces Republican Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca in November.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Democrat Anna Eskamani is running for an open House seat in an Orlando-area district against Republican Stockton Reeves. She has two bachelor’s degrees, two master’s degrees and is currently studying for a doctorate, all from the University of Central Florida. She has no student debt.

“I struggled to save the money to pay for my tuition,” she said. “When I would finally feel like I was in a financially secure spot, I would have to pay that tuition again.”

Eskamani worked full time at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida through graduate school as the organization’s senior director of communications. She credits her ability to remain debt free in part to the University of Central Florida’s payment plan, which allows her to pay tuition in installments.

All three candidates have similar ideas on how to reduce student loan debt:

-- Mercado would like to see “some form of work-related debt forgiveness, including for teachers and nurses if they work certain jobs. Maybe for every year on a job or a specific career path, you can get some form of reimbursement or forgiveness for your loan.”

-- “We need some level of student loan debt forgiveness,” Eskamani said. “There are intentional steps we need to take to protect people pursuing an advance degree in fields that are so needed in Florida.”

-- “We have look at programs that have service work,” Collum said. “If you go to a four-year state college, you should be able to work in an industry where, if you give a certain amount of time back to the state, your loans are forgiven.”

Collum acknowledged that there are similar federal programs but said the acceptance rate is so low that the effect on the debt crisis is negligible. She attended one of the top public-interest law schools in the country, where her fellow graduates have gone on to work in legal aid and state attorneys’ offices. “Only about 13 percent of those who apply for public interest loan forgiveness actually get it,” she said.

Another solution could be a renewed concentration in the Legislature on access to state colleges and technical schools.

“As I’ve talked with people while campaigning, a lot of small-and mediumsized businesses have trouble finding people to hire,” Collum said. “It wouldn’t just benefit individuals, it would benefit Florida as a whole, so I’m absolutely in favor of vocational and job training when it’s in the best interest of the person.”

That may be the rare issue in which Republicans and Democrats can work together.

Democratic governor candidate Andrew Gillum has called for an emphasis on “Shop 2.0” — revitalizing vocational training and computer education in public schools. His opponent, Republican Ron DeSantis, has called for closing Florida’s “skills gap” by incentivizing schools to offer more technical education and encouraging apprenticeships.

The idea is that, while the student loan debt crisis is already here, perhaps Florida’s leaders can avoid compounding it by making it easier for students to find high-paying technical jobs instead of becoming another loan-default statistic.

Finally, Collum said she would support free community colleges, paid for not by raising current taxes but instead through new revenue streams, such as legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes and using taxes on that for college tuition.

“It’s just an enormous amount of money to saddle any young person with at the beginning of their careers,” she said. “At some point, much like the housing market did 10 years ago, the bubble will burst.”