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Friday, March 29, 2024

Cooper schools students on debt and finances

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North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and a team of experts stopped by Cape Fear Community College Thursday, Sept. 25, to share finance and student loan tips with CFCC students.

Cooper, who has all but announced a run against North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory in 2016, began his College Cash and Credit Tour in early September at High Point University.

Cooper said the goal of the tour was to make college and university students more aware of the financial issues facing them.

“Students need to be attentive to their finances, it is never too early to try to get your finances straight because the mistakes you make now affect you in buying a car, a home or even getting a job,” Cooper said after the CFCC session in Union Station. “Many students are away from home maybe for the first time and may be paying for their apartment, energy bill and other expenses, so they need to know this information.”

CFCC was the fifth stop on Cooper’s tour and he said its student body was unique in that it is comprised of many older adult students.

“With Cape Fear Community College you do have a large adult student population, but when you think about it, these issues are important to all age groups,” he said. “I have even had professors that came into this and staff members saying this information has been helpful for them as well.”

Dr. John Berry, CFCC vice president of student services, said students at CFCC would particularly benefit from Cooper’s message on debt management and said his department would integrate the printed materials provided Thursday into the school’s student resources.

“Just because you can take more money doesn’t mean you should take more money and so many students find themselves in that vicious cycle,” Berry said. “We will utilize this information for all new students that come in as part of the process and today was really beneficial.”

Cooper was joined by three other experts who spoke about issues ranging from student loans to establishing good credit and protecting against identity theft.

The increasing level of debt students graduate with is the biggest financial issue facing them statewide, Cooper said.

“We are working hard to get students the information about picking the right school for what they want to do and amassing a tremendous amount of debt is not a good idea,” Cooper said. “Many students are realizing that the amount of debt and the payment they have is just not going to fit in their budget so we want students to be thinking about this earlier in the process.”

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