When she graduates from Columbia University next year with a master's degree in Public health, Eric Wheeler is hoping to get a job in international reproductive  health. The 26-year-old post-graduate has always wanted to work in public service. But public service doesn't pay much, and her two-year program at Columbia costs about $50,000 a year with living expenses. She has a scholarship from Columbia that covers just $4,000 a year and has taken out loans to pay for the rest. She worries that she will spend years paying back her student loans and not have money left over to put away in an IRA. Wheeler is wondering what she can do to ease the pain of    being in debt. Is there anything she can do to handle the debt? The good news is that in 2007, Congress recognized that there were so many students in Wheeler's position that it passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. There were two programs established by this act that Wheeler should look into. The first is the income-based repayment plan, which allows lower-income graduates with a lot of debt to reduce their monthly payments. Depending on a graduate's income and level of debt, the program, which goes into effect July 1, could limit his or her annual educational loan debt repayment to 15 percent of discretionary income ,said Peter Mazareas, vice charman of the College Saving Foundation. The second is the public service loan forgiveness plan, in which the federal government will forgive the remaining debt of borrowers who make 10-year loan payment while working full time in public-service jobs. But the graduate must have a certain loan which is listed in the plan. Depending on the level of debt Wheeler ends up with and how much she repays over 10 years, Mazareas said she could end up with about $75,000 of her debt forgiven. " Tipically, it is projected that a borrower who performs public service under this program will repay only about one-fourth to one-half as much money as a borrower who does not", he said. He also pointed out that public service is broadly defined and includes any government and nonprofit organization job. What's the main idea of the passage?
The total expense in American universities is too high. There are a lot of different programs to help students pay their tution. The US government encourages students to choose public service jobs. The federal government is trying to relieve graduates from heavy debt.