At 18, Robyn Shemwell’s heart was set on attending Loyola University in Chicago to study social work.
“I was ready to take out $40,000 each year in student loans because at 18 years old, I had no reference point for that amount of money,” Shemwell, now 23, recalls. “I simply thought that all colleges would cost this amount and that this was a normal amount for students to take out in loans each year.”
She feels bad when she remembers the tears in her parents’ eyes as they told her they wouldn’t cosign a private loan.
“My hardworking, middle-class parents were upset with themselves for not being able to provide me with a ludicrous amount of tuition money so that I could go to my dream school,” Shemwell says.
After graduating from Madison West High School, Shemwell reluctantly went to a less expensive state school. She quickly grew to love it. Now an associate recruiter for ManpowerGroup RPO in Milwaukee, she has two bachelor’s degrees, a certificate and student loan debt from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee totaling less than one year’s tuition at Loyola.