Shackled with school debt, 3 LI students' stories
Quick ReadHere are the stories of three students who are carrying five- and six-figure debt for undergraduate degrees and struggling to find jobs on Long Island, where the cost of living is high.
Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara | Ashley Marchese, who graduated from LIU Post in 2010, expected to land a full-time teaching job, but substitutes instead. Her net pay is $1,100 every two weeks, she lives with her parents, and spends about 40 percent of her salary toward paying her college loans. (Nov. 23, 2011)
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Student loan debt is weighing on new Long Island college graduates and students who are trying to cope with underemployment, a lack of jobs and the high cost of living.
Some, such as Ashley Marchese of Patchogue, who owes $100,000 after four years at LIU Post, have only found temporary work. A year after graduating, she is filling in for a teacher at Sachem High School East until June.
David...
