Newtown Man’s Thesis On Family Debt Is A Personal Matter

Mike English, who is graduating this week with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southern Connecticut State University, knows better than to accept those foolish offers of low rates and free money that frequently make their way into people’s homes.

Mr English points to credit card and mortgage debt and the lending practices associated with each as instrumental to the negative savings levels recorded in the United States for the first time since the Great Depression. Mr English presented his thesis to the Honors Convocation as a result of his status as the top academic student in the SCSU Honors College.

But his understanding of the turmoil that heavy debt can wreak came from more than just theory, conjecture, statistics, and studies. Mr English says he experienced the problem firsthand while growing up in Newtown. While both of his parents were employed in good jobs and living in an affluent Fairfield County community, that all changed pretty quickly during his high school years, when his father fell ill.

“My father was diagnosed with diseases that required multiple surgeries and impaired his ability to work,” Mr English said. “I tried not to call attention to it, but it was a stressful time for my family.”

Mike English, like most college students, has amassed his own debt in student loans. Fortunately, he received a scholarship as a result of his acceptance into the Honors College. That reduced costs considerably. “Think of how much more it would be with tuition and fees!” he said. His twin sister, a student at Catholic University, knows his hardship just as much as he does. “My parents help here and there with what they can, but I still have a lot of unsubsidized loans to pay off,” Mr English said.

He has been accepted at George Mason University and will pursue a master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis on public policy. He had also been accepted in the graduate schools of Cornell, Syracuse, and Albany universities.

As for his future plans, he knows he wants to help people and feels strongly about educating the population against debt. “It’s inevitable that we will experience debt. What we need is a way to teach people how to deal with it,” he said.

Harriet Applewhite, an SCSU professor of political science who was Mr English’s thesis advisor, said his paper offers valuable insight into the problem of mounting personal debt. “It is an excellent example of a theoretically relevant study that also has immediate policy applications,” Professor Applewhite said. “Mike is a person of sterling character, encouraging, and inspiring to his classmates, helpful and supportive to his friends and determined to make his corner of the world a better place to live.

The thesis is entitled “An Exploration of the Impact of Debt on the American Middle Class.”