Natural State News

By the end of 2019, Arkansas had already made significant inroads against student loan defaults for six years straight, hovering only 0.3% above the national average of 10.4%, but a recently passed state law aims to improve that number by keeping students informed.

House Bill 1700, now Act 1066, passed during the most-recent state Legislative session, aims to counter the rising cost of college educations by ensuring students and their families are fully informed of all options, including lower-cost ways of entering the workforce. This includes the costs of college, including average cost of attendance, average student loan payment, average debt, and the student loan default rate.

The Act will also require students to be provided with information on the average income of both college and trade school programs. Under Act 1066, the state will obtain data from all educational institutions in the state to compile accurate information for students.

“Vocational schools where we grew up seemed to be reserved for people who weren’t making it in ‘real’ school, so we weren’t completely sure how we felt about our son attending one,” Erin Funk told The Atlantic for an article that examined the stigma college alternatives sometimes have.

Funk, who holds a master's in education, was the first in her family to achieve a college degree. She also sees opportunity for her son in a video production design course at a local career center, The Atlantic reported. Yet, Funk said, she has already had one friend question whether her son was struggling in school when they were told about his plans to seek vocational training.

“The constantly changing nature of educational opportunities and the job market requires up-to-date information for anyone seeking a job or an education in Arkansas to properly navigate the marketplace,” the preamble to HB 1700 states.

The thrust is that although Arkansas is proud of its state-sponsored institutions of higher education, the nature of the economy means many occupations on-par with those that previously required a college degree are available through certifications and continuing education.

“It is considered a second choice, second-class,” Patricia Hsieh, president of a community college in San Diego, was quoted as saying by The Atlantic. “We really need to change how people see vocational and technical education.”

In 2019 the U.S. Department of Education showed 351,000 Arkansas residents with college debt, carrying an average of $26,579, according to coverage by Talk Business. In comparison, the national average for student loan debt in that same year was $32,731.