Andy Tullis / The BulletinU.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., right, talks with a group of students Wednesday about college affordability during a visit to Cascade Hall on the COCC campus in Bend.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., was in Central Oregon on Wednesday to discuss the rising cost of tuition with students fighting debt and with graduates considering how to finance a master’s program.

Merkley met with students and graduates from OSU-Cascades and Central Oregon Community College on the COCC campus, the first stop in a five-campus trip dubbed the “Fighting for College Affordability Tour” by his re-election campaign. While his opponent in the November election, Republican Monica Wehby — who according to her campaign office has no publicly scheduled events in Central Oregon before the election — was never mentioned Wednesday, Merkley did discuss how congressional Republicans have opposed college affordability legislation the senator has backed. Specifically, Merkley discussed the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., which would allow students with existing loans to refinance at the lower rates now available.

“You can refinance if you have a home loan, or a car loan, if the interest rate drops,” Merkley said. “Students should be able to do that, too. This is a big deal in Oregon. We have 500,000 Oregonians with student loans and a vast bulk of those are at a higher rate than we have available now.”

Merkley stressed that refinancing would allow more students to make their payments and for fewer to face default, an experience, he said, which can discourage dreams of an advanced degree. The senator also discussed how the federal government makes a return off its student loan program, something he said should stop.

Susana Hernandez, 19, president of COCC’s student government, said she liked the idea of allowing students to refinance their loans, noting her own education was financed by a mix of loans and Pell Grants.

“The total of those loans for the first year was about $3,000, and I’ve already been having to pay interest on some of them,” Hernandez said. “We shouldn’t have to pay this much for our education; it doesn’t make sense.”

Christina Jackson, 44, broke into tears while discussing her financial situation with Merkley. Jackson, a single mother of six, said between class and caring for her kids, the only time she would have to earn an income is when she should be sleeping.

“I almost have to quit school; I have to make that decision right now,” said Jackson, a junior at OSU-Cascades. “I had to scale back to two-thirds time, but I don’t want to quit.”

“I was the first in my family to go to college,” she said. “My parents never graduated high school. My parents are proud and my kids are proud.”

Jackson added that because she is no longer full time, she isn’t eligible for a number of grants, but she’s averse to taking on more debt. Merkley said her story represents what happens when state investment in education goes down and tuition goes up.

“My son just started Oregon State this Monday, so I had an education in how costs have gone up,” Merkley said. “When folks say, ‘Well, simply work on the side,’ how can you work on the side with children? Quite frankly, what has happened for students is that some want to make money before school so they don’t have to have debt. But how can you save if you’re making around minimum wage? And then when you can’t go back you lose the college rhythm.”

Over the next two days, Merkley will travel to Corvallis, Eugene, Salem and Portland to meet with other students.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160, tleeds@bendbulletin.com