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THE DOLLARS
AND SENSE OF
COLLEGE DEBT
New Jersey
schools
leave grads
owing over
$30K on
average

TUESDAY 08.30.16

Gov. Chris Christie touted benefits to New

Jersey under the federal Affordable Care Acts
expansion of Medicaid.

Christie: More
in N.J. insured
via Medicaid
DUSTIN RACIOPPI @DRACIOPPI

Gov. Chris Christie said Monday that more than half

a million people now have comprehensive health coverage through the expansion of Medicaid.
Christies decision three years ago to expand the program under provisions of the Affordable Care Act
commonly known as Obamacare drew criticism
from conservatives at a time he was preparing to run
for president.
But the expansion proved beneficial to New Jersey,
Christie said, with average beneficiaries paying about
$700 less for health care and the state reducing its own
share of Medicaid costs, from 45 percent in 2014 to 39
percent in 2015.
There were many naysayers, both inside the state
and around the country, who criticized that choice to
expand Medicaid, Christie said. They were wrong
then, and theyre proven wrong now.
While New Jersey has benefited from the expansion,
See MEDICAID, Page 8A

MARKO KOKIC FOR THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

COMING AT A COST

One Jersey Shore university is among a group of colleges

with the highest average student loan debt in the state, according to a new report by LendEDU, an online marketplace for student borrowers.
Graduates of Georgian Court University are leaving the
Lakewood campus with $40,927 in college debt, on average, according to the report. Georgian Court was the third-highest in
the state among four-year schools surveyed in the report.
On average, students left four-year institutions in New Jersey with $30,536 in debt in 2015, making the Garden State the
ninth-highest in the nation for student loan debt, according to
the LendEDU report.
The findings come during a presidential campaign season in
which college affordability has been a major issue. The subject
propelled the outsider candidacy of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
In his address at the Democratic National Convention, Sanders said he and Clinton had come together on a proposal that
will guarantee that the children of any family in this country
with an annual income of $125,000 a year or less 83 percent of
our population will be able to go to a public college or universitytuition free.
Republican nominee Donald Trumps campaign has said
Trump would remove the government from the student loan
system and have private banks lend money to college students
instead.
Toni Kwadzogah, 24, of Franklin, Somerset County, knows

A breakdown of the six New

Jersey colleges with the highest
student debt after graduation:
Stevens Inst. of Tech.

$48,244
Bloomfield College

$46,574
Georgian Court Univ.

$40,927
N.J. Institute of Tech.

$37,195
The College of N.J.

$36,994
Centenary University

$33,821

See DEBT, Page 8A

Jodi Bocco of West Long Branch visits with Kadeem, 1, in New

Iberia, Louisiana. Bocco is a Red Cross volunteer.

Former Sandy
volunteer brings
help to Louisiana
AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

LAFAYETTE, La. - Jodi Bocco has spent the past

week and a half walking door to door in flood-ravaged
parts of Louisiana.
A volunteer with the Red Cross, the West Long
Branch woman is seeking out families whose children
are traumatized by the disaster, haunted by sleepless
nights or suffering from emotional instability in the
wake of the devastating flood.
As one of more than 30 Red Cross volunteers from
New Jersey who recently traveled to the Gulf Coast
state, Bocco, a teacher and child advocate for victims of
crimes, meets with families to offer support and make
sure the children get the services and help they need.
Shes part of a network of New Jersey Red Cross volunteers working throughout Louisiana and remotely from
the Garden State who are offering their assistance to
thousands of people who have lost their homes and posSee HELP, Page 10A

Fish kills: Why is this happening?

RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

The series of fish kills at the Shore has the rapt attention of scientists and environmentalists and it
isnt because of the horrid odors.
The tons of dead juvenile bunker fish that have
washed ashore or clogged marinas on the Jersey
Shore are not believed to be the result of environmental contamination, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Pollution watchdogs, however, are calling the

Obamacare woes: Insurers

could drop more than 2
million people in 2017. 1B

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
HEALTHY LIVING
LOCAL

6D
7D
5D
1D
3A

mass deaths alarming. Some are wondering if longstanding water quality issues are contributing to the
losses, widely blamed on asphyxiation.
There have been four reported fish kills in New
Jersey during the past seven days:
On Sunday, thousands of dead fish clustered
around the boats in the Atlantic Highlands Marina.
15,000 to 20,000 bunker were found dead in lagoons along Osborn Island near Little Egg Harbor on
See FISH, Page 8A

OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
TECH TUESDAY
WEATHER

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9A
1C
5A
8C

VOLUME 137
NUMBER 208
SINCE 1879