On Nov. 1, Oswego State President Deborah Stanley assumed the two-year role of chair of the board of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

Stanley has been a member of the association since she took over the role of president of Oswego State in 1995. Since then, she has served on many committees, as part of the executive board, as an officer and is now pleased to be the chairperson.

“Working with colleagues that I respect across the country and I’ve come to know very well is enormously satisfying and I’m proud of the fact that this organization has done so much good in the world,” Stanley said.

Nationwide, more than 400 public institutes of higher learning are members of the AASCU.

According to Stanley, public schools are different from private or technological colleges and universities because there is a heavier reliance on the government for educational funding. Across the nation, all members are similar to Oswego State, some bigger and some smaller, but all set up the same way with the same issues at hand.

“Our issues are about state funding, state-by-state, we talk about how to deal with government regulation, we think about all of the things our students are going through, affording education,” Stanley said.

For many Oswego State students, affording education is the main concern and serves as a deciding factor when choosing a college.

Basit Dar, an Oswego State sophomore, said he feels frustrated about the cost of tuition.

“I feel that it is unfair, and I am not given as much federal aid as I need,” Dar said.

One of the most important aspects of state colleges is the socioeconomic diversity.

“I’m proud of the fact that this organization has done so much good in the world, especially for first generation students, middle income students and lower income students,” Stanley said. “It’s a melting pot, it’s a place where we really welcome everybody to a threshold for higher education.”

Student debt is one of most important issues for today’s college students. Nationwide, student debt totals $1.2 trillion and the average student will walk away from college with a diploma and $33,000 in debt according to debt.org.

For many students, Oswego State and the SUNY system are appealing because of the low costs offered to in-state students. However, according to the Institute for College Access and Success, 69 percent of graduating seniors in the class of 2014 graduated with an average of $28,950 in loans.

This issue is not getting any better for students. From 2004 to 2014, the amount of graduating students carrying debt rose from 65 to 69 percent. At Oswego State, 77 percent of students graduated with some sort of debt out of the 1,727 students who were awarded a bachelor’s degree in 2014.

Working directly with the U.S. Department of Education will allow state funded schools like Oswego State to have a first hand as to how funds will be divided up and how they will best benefit students.

“We work with each other to share best practices, so bringing all that knowledge and understanding back to Oswego helps me make my job a lot better,” Stanley said.