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# Podcast: When It's Payback Time For College Debt
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/podcast-when-its-payback-time-for-college-debt/
- Published: 2019-05-20T18:30:39.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T02:38:16.000Z
- Description: Listen to this year's college graduates from the state of Iowa talk about their debt, what they gained from it and their hopes for paying it off.
- Author: The IowaWatch College Media Reporting Team
- Tags: iowawatch, The Lead Story, college debt, college graduation, Iowa Board of Regents, Iowa College Aid Commission, Iowa Data Center, podcasts, school loans, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

#### ABOUT THIS REPORT

Student journalists working with IowaWatch interviewed students and financial aid advisers during the spring 2019 college semester for this collaboration. The journalists are:

- - K. Rambo, Iowa State University and IowaWatch intern
  - Lauren Wade, University of Iowa and IowaWatch intern
  - Molly Hunter, University of Iowa and IowaWatch intern
  - Matthew McDermott, Cornell College and IowaWatch intern
  - Lily Bohlke, Grinnell College and IowaWatch intern
  - Omar Alcorta, Buena Vista University
  - Guy Tannenbaum, Buena Vista University
  - Cooper Maahs, Buena Vista University
  - Allyssa Ertz, Buena Vista University
  - Iran Carlos, Buena Vista University
  - Tyler Brunner, Buena Vista University
  - Tanner Frost, Buena Vista University
  - Job Saunders, Buena Vista University
  - Logan Schroeder, Mount Mercy University
  - Claudia Chiappa, Coe College
  - Antonio Perez, Coe College
  - Oliden Herrera, St. Ambrose University  
Special thanks to the following journalism advisers and professionals: Andrea Frantz, Buena Vista University; Joe Sheller, Mount Mercy University; Shawn Harmsen, Coe College; David Baker KALA Radio, St. Ambrose University.

A new group of college students has graduated in May 2019 and many of the students are leaving college in debt, taken on to accomplish their studies. Complete debt data for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years don’t exist yet but students graduating from not-for-profit, four-year universities in Iowa faced an average of $30,595 in student loan debt [in 2017](https://www.iowacollegeaid.gov/sites/default/files/Average%5FDebt%5Fat%5FGraduation%5F2017.pdf?ref=investigatemidwest.org), according to the Iowa College Aid Commission.

This number is nearly as high as the median per capita income of [$30,865](https://www.iowadatacenter.org/quickfacts?ref=investigatemidwest.org) in Iowa in 2017, according to the Iowa Data Center.

You can listen to this year’s college graduates from the state of Iowa talk about their debt, and hopes for paying it off. The podcast has a general report, discussion with spring IowaWatch intern K. Rambo about the main story he wrote for a multi-story project, and a report from the Buena Vista University student journalists at the university’s campus radio station, KBVU.

#### READ THE STORIES  
WHILE YOU LISTEN

#### [IOWA’S NEWEST COLLEGE GRADUATES SHARE OLD PROBLEM: DEBT](https://investigatemidwest.org/college-debt-2019/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

#### [TUITION INCREASES A NATURAL PART OF SMALL COLLEGES](https://investigatemidwest.org/tuition-increases-a-natural-part-of-small-college/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

#### [GRADUATING WITH DEBT THE ONLY OPTION FOR MANY COLLEGE STUDENTS](https://investigatemidwest.org/debt-coe/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

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*This story aired on the following radio stations during the weekly* [*IowaWatch Connection radio program*](https://investigatemidwest.org/radio/?ref=investigatemidwest.org) *under IowaWatch’s mission of sharing stories with media partners: KVFD, Fort Dodge; KALA-FM, Davenport; WMT, Cedar Rapids; KOIL, Omaha (NE); KSIB-FM, Creston; KXEL, Waterloo/Cedar Falls; KROS-AM, Clinton; KROS-FM, Clinton; WHO-AM, Des Moines; KRTI-FM, Newton/Grinnell; KCYZ-FM, Ames; KSCJ-AM, Sioux City; KSCJ-FM, Sioux City; KMA-AM, Shenandoah; KMA-FM, Clarinda; KGLO-AM, Mason City; WLTL-FM, LaGrange (IL); KASI-AM, Ames; KXIC-AM, Iowa City; KFJB-AM, Marshalltown; and KICI-LP, Iowa City.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/d3/cdd3c059-8898-40b1-bcf7-cb2d3aa89775/content/images/2026/09/Logo_with-IaInsuranceDiv.jpg)