8/17/2019 Asbury Park Press front page Sunday, May 8 2016

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/asbury-park-press-front-page-sunday-may-8-2016 1/1

Editor’s note: This is the final installment in our se-ries of stories on the high price of education leading upto our ONE NATION: Education event Tuesday in

 Asbury Park.For a short time, Vanessa Iampaglia considered

selling her eggs to pay for college.At $8,000 a pop, the invasive procedure would have

helped with the $85,000 in loans she needed to pay forher education. Between classes and working 35-plus

hours a week at multiple jobs, however, she didn’t havetime to drive to the doctor’s office each day for the re-quired medication injections.

Even without the egg donation, the Point Pleasantnative has paid down a good portion of her debt, but

COLLEGE TUITION DEBT:

CRIPPLINGREALITY

STAFF PHOTOS

From left: Meghan Mathis, a seventh-grade language arts special education teacher in Somerset County; VanessaImpaglia speaks about her college debt at her mother’s home in Point Pleasant Borough; Christyn Gionfriddo, 29,lives at home with her parents with $92,004 in student loan debt; Jamie Bradley, 27, of Brick, a quality coordinatorfor New Jersey Resources, is a Rutgers graduate who has $145,734 in college tuition debt remaining to pay.

KALA KACHMAR @NEWSQUIP $13,303The state has the fourth-highest average tuitionand fees at its public,four-year schools. Theaverage 2015-16 price(not including room andboard) is $13,303.

$4,596The state has the 13thhighest average tuitionand fees at its public,two-year colleges. Theaverage 2015-16 cost is$4,596, and the nationalaverage is $3,962.

See DEBT, Page10A

GET YOUR TICKETS NOWHear experts speak out about the high cost of education atthe “ONE NATION: Education” forum Tuesday. Hosted byUSA TODAY, the Asbury Park Press and Rock the Vote, it willbe held at House of Independents in Asbury Park. Doors openat 6 p.m. $10 general admission; 18+ to attend; 21+ to drink.Visit on.app.com/onenationfor details and tickets. Use the#ONENATION hashtag to share your story and join the con-versation on Twitter and Facebook.

ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION APP.COM $2.00

05.08.16

VOLUME 137

NUMBER 110

SINCE 1879

@ISSUE 1AA

BUSINESS 6AA

CLASSIFIED 1D

LOCAL 3A

LOTTERIES 2A

OBITUARIES 18A

OPINION 4AA

SPORTS 1C

SUNDAY BEST 1E

WEATHER 12C

Cost overruns for reconstructing 12.5 miles of thesuperstorm Sandy-battered Route 35 have topped $76million — including paying contractors millions of dol-

lars to remain idle for months — making it one of themost expensive roadway projects in the state’s history,an Asbury Park Press investigation found.

The final price tag for the reconstruction will hit$341 million — a cost that is 31 times more per mile thana typical road cost in New Jersey, the Press found. Thatis three times the money the state government spendseach year to keep its bridges in working order.

Because of the overruns, state taxpayers will likelyend up footing a greater share of the reconstruction

EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION

Route 35work racks

up $76Min overrunsOfficials still haven’t explained how

$23M of the extra costs was spent

RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

Trafficmovesalongsideconstructionon Route 35in Bay Headin 2014.

FILE PHOTO

See ROADS, Page10A

RED BANK - On some blocks, downtown BroadStreet has the vibrant, quirky feel of a “Main StreetUSA,” with luxury furniture stores, an arcade and res-taurants with a 45-minute wait.

And elsewhere Broad Street is a shell of its formerself.

“We’re in downtown Red Bank and there’s a dozenempty stores here,” said Todd Katz, a real estate agentfrom Ocean Township. “In a strong economy, everystore would be filled and there would be people walkingdown the street. I see very few people shopping andwalking down the street right now.”

Katz doesn’t know who he’s voting for in the Novem-ber general election, at least not in the expected show-

As primary nears,what’s the moodof Jersey voters?MIKE DAVIS @BYMIKEDAVIS

See VOTERS, Page14A

Nyquist winsKentucky DerbyColt is fourth consecutive favorite

to ride to victory. SPORTS, 1C

About a quarter of students graduate with excessive debt, with those who

are low-income and those who take loans but don’t graduate hurt the most.

INSIDE

Jesse Lee Herdman of the Asbury Park band Accidental Sea-birds can relate to the pain of high college costs.STORY, 9A