Staff Editorial: Financial concerns should be prominent in students’ minds

In these times of economic difficulty, graduation looms for many seniors as the end of an era at Saint Joseph's University and the beginning of life in the "real world." It's a place where textbooks don't provide answers and money determines an awful lot about how individuals can spend their time.

Last Thursday, Residence Life sponsored a discussion with a professor in the Department of Finance at St. Joe's, Christopher Coyne, Ph.D. Coyne's talk focused on the challenges that exist for recent college graduates who face not only the prospects of a bad economy, but looming financial expenses like college loan payments, rent, and a whole lot of taxes.

But while Coyne's discussion concerning the fiscal reality of graduation was a pertinent and necessaryone, the tone of the talk was often questionable.

Students need to recognize early on in their time at St. Joe's that the education we receive here is an expensive one, and that our years outside of Hawk Hill will look much different than our undergraduate experience. The fiscal realities of life—finding a job, understanding necessary vs. unnecessary expenses—are pressing and very, very real. If St. Joe's students are going to move forward as successful adults, we need to begin by taking stock of what the "real world" means for us and what it will cost.

Assuming that a degree will give you a job and provide you with a comfortable lifestyle is not matched by reality. Understanding priorities early on is important in providing a more realistic approach to finances after graduation. Think you need a cable package with 500 channels? Think again. How much will rent cost you? Where will you live? How much do you need to pay for your college loans each month after graduation?

All of these questions are important ones, and they need to be asked more often and earlier at Saint Joseph's. Coyne's talk with students was a frank and necessary one—but the discussion would have been even more effective and meaningful had it not relied upon archaic and gendered references throughout the conversation. Coyne's joke that "I just replaced my dishwasher; I got a divorce" was inappropriate and turned a practical discussion into an exclusionary and offensive situation. By making sexist remarks, Coyne turned a positive event into one that left a bad taste in the mouths of many students in the audience.

But the truth of Coyne's fiscal message, at least, remains. Seniors shouldn't be the only ones worried about their financial futures on campus. St. Joe's students need to work to become better educated when it comes to the financial realities that await them post-graduation—no matter how many years down the road that may be.

The Hawk Staff