‘I didn’t want to spend $40,000/yr': Student chooses GRCC over university to pursue musical dreams

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Zuzu Nyson loves to sing. She grew up singing around her house to the likes of Aurora, Lana Del Rey, Roy Orbison, London Grammar and ABBA. She dreams of one day becoming a recording artist just like them.

“I would love to make money off of music and perform, just sing and write all the time and collaborate, find my own niche and find my own musical family I guess and travel the world,” Zuzu said during an interview with FOX 17 earlier in August.

When the now 25-year-old graduated from high school back in 2015, she wanted to pursue her dream at a four-year college or university like NYU or go abroad. However, it wasn’t in the budget. So, she took a few years off.

“At the time I loved singing but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to study fashion or act or something like that,” Zuzu said. “And, I didn’t want to spend, I don’t know, $40,000 a year trying to figure that out and then possibly not use that degree.”

During the pandemic, she worked at a credit union and learned that she qualified for the Future For Frontliners program at Grand Rapids Community College. So, she enrolled and got her tuition completely covered.

Zuzu was thrilled.

“We do see people heading off to community colleges,” said student loan expert Mary Jo Terry during a Zoom interview on Wednesday. “We’re also seeing a lot of individuals choosing trade schools. But remember you can get an internship to try to pay for your trade school going in to [become] an auto-mechanic, a welder, a plumber. And, all of these positions pay very well because there’s a shortage of people to do these jobs.”

Terry is also a managing partner at YRefy LLC. She said students are going into the trade field because there’s a greater chance that they can walk away debt-free and make six figures.

Currently, the national student loan debt is $1.6 trillion. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration will forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for people who didn’t receive the Pell grant and who make less than $125,000.

“But also keep in mind, on average people have $30,000+ in federal debt alone,” Terry said. “So, even if $10,000 gets forgiven we should start looking towards the future of ‘OK, what are we going to do with the last $20,000?’”

Biden specified that if borrowers received the Pell grant then up to $20,000 will be forgiven.

Terry said that colleges and universities know that they’re expensive. So, they too are trying to help students make college affordable, like using their endowment fund to cover tuition costs for certain students.

“I think you’ll also see some colleges and universities put a moratorium on the increase of education. So, if you start as a freshman you could have the same amount paid all the way through, from one semester to the next whether you go for four years, or five years, or six years. That will be big help,” she said. “We’re also seeing the states themselves, states control a lot of the state’s tools, right. State legislations are actually trying to work with the schools so that they don’t have to increase the cost of education and that this particular piece of debt doesn’t continue to grow.”

The Future For Frontliners program was created by the state of Michigan to help people, who worked during the pandemic, go to a community college tuition-free. When Zuzu learned about it, she jumped on board.

“I just thought I can’t let this opportunity pass up because I love learning and I don’t know really where to begin my musical career,” Zuzu said. “So, that just, you know, was a no-brainer for me.”

Zuzu’s currently pursing her associates in music and recording technology. She even released a single and a music video that’s being reviewed on music blogs.

Zuzu knows that all of this was possible because of her time at GRCC, and she applauds Biden for his efforts.

“I think the more access we have to education the better our future will be,” she said.