Non-Traditional College Students Often Face Hunger & Massive Debt for Degree

When you think of college students you might think of affluent young people reveling in the joys of care-free campus life…But, that doesn’t describe all college students – especially many non-traditional students. They often are juggling families, jobs, mounting debt and hunger. Yes, hunger. Many go to regional campuses or community colleges. They are enduring current hardships for the promise of a better life with a degree. Bob Long was a long-time voice on WMUB radio at Miami University in Southwestern Ohio. He spent almost 30 years working with students and gaining broadcasting and journalism awards. Late in his career and since his retirement, Long started working with students at one of Miami University’s regional campuses. This is a campus inhabited by working students and those with limited resources in an impoverished area of the state. “I was amazed at the conditions in which I found some of these students,” Long says. “Many of them had gone days without eating so that they could pay for school, books, and to support their families.” Most of them are in debt for their education and the student debt is mounting each day. In addition, they need to spend money on books and transportation to and from the campus. “All of this, too often, totals up to poverty. These students are financially strapped and they are NOT the spoiled college students we normally think of…far from it…” Long describes. “They need some help.” Long, a long-time advocate for food pantries for the poor, wants to attack the hunger issues facing many non-traditional students at satellite campuses. He is starting college and university based food pantries for qualifying college students and he is trying to launch a national campaign to meet the needs of these low-income students. He also is using his voice to argue for the lowering of student debt or the forgiveness of debt payments for qualifying students. Long wants to give everyone a chance to get an education but he says it is not possible for many who already live on the economic fringes.