Mayor Dennis Tyler said he wishes more of us would stick around after we graduate. That was one of his ideas for improving relations between Ball State and the city.
"I think it's critical when you have investors looking from the outside in and they see that the largest employer in the city of Muncie [Ball State] is partnering in increasing that type of awareness inside and outside the community," he said.
Believe it or not, some of us wouldn't mind spending more time here. Some students look down on the city, but that's often the younger ones, who haven't had the chance to see what Muncie has to offer or taken time to volunteer off campus.
For those who have made the investment, we know there is something here worth applauding. But some of us can't stick around even if we wanted. You see, it's those college tuition loans that need to be paid off.
Most students have to go where the best jobs are and make all the money they can to pay down thousands of dollars in tuition debt.
It wasn't always that way.
The state of Indiana has continued to cut back on the financial support for universities like Ball State. Previous generations had the benefit of a state that invested more in higher education in hopes that would lead to a better Indiana for everybody.
Today the situation is different. Students and families, many in the middle class, are forced to devote a larger and larger percentage of our family incomes to college. In the last 10 years, tuition has doubled while our parents' income has increased by just one percent.
The upshot is we're not in any position to stick around and help out any community, even one as deserving as Muncie, unless we can figure out a way to help pay down these debts of ours.
That's not saying we won't miss you. Most of us, as we put in a few years here, realize that Muncie is a great place with people that really care about their community.
Some of us want to see the bright lights of the big city. But we know sometime we'll want to find a place like this to make our homes.
When that time comes, whether it's Muncie or somewhere else, you can bet we'll be thinking of what this town has meant to us.
If Indiana wants its students to invest in the state with their lives and careers, then the state really needs to start investing in the students.
We like the people here and the quality of life here. At this point, paying back those student loans is what matters. But that doesn't mean we wouldn't come back if we could.
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