Good afternoon, 21 million students attended college in the fall of 2014 ("Back to School Statistics"). The total student debt in America is 1 trillion dollars, the majority held by members of the middle class ("Back to School Statistics") (Carrns). Student debt is negatively affecting the economy by encumbering the middle class with absurd financial burden thus widening the wealth gap and decreasing social mobility. America should pursue redefining education through lowering the cost of college and reevaluating social stigmas attached to states schools or community colleges. Middle class Americans who do not qualify for a lot of financial aid and who cannot actually afford the cost of college are forced to take out student loans; these students are often ignorant about matters of long term investments, like college education, and make ill-informed decisions. The average student debt upon graduation is about $35,000 (Levin). Students applying for loans in the 2014-2015 school year will pay an interest rate of 4.66% for federal student loans whereas the current mortgage rate as of 10/8/2014 is 4.18% (Carrns) ("Current Mortgage Rates"). The projected student loan interest rate for 2017 is 6.8% (Carrns). The government made 50.6 billion dollars in profit off student loan interest last year alone (Levin). While private loans can sometimes advertise a lower interest rate, they are far more unpredictable and do not have payment plans fitted to annual income making them a greater
As it is, there is about $1 trillion in college debt in America. A Philadelphia Enquirer article warns that, “The average debt owed per person is $25,000 -- the highest level of student debt in the nation's history,” and that the number is increased by tens of thousands of dollars for those who go on to get higher degrees. $25,000 is a lot but the reality is that a lot of people have even more than that. For example, what if someone goes to an expensive private college and their tuition is anywhere between 30 and 70 thousand per year. In total they could be paying between 120 and 240 thousand dollars per year. The majority of the country is most likely unable to easily pay for that and could end up with extensive amounts of debt just because they went to the college that they wanted to. Student’s education shouldn’t be compromised just because the school they want to go to has a high tuition. Alarmingly, “Study after study has shown the number one barrier to attending college is the published rate of tuition.”(Lowe) The amount of student debt as a result of a school’s high tuition should decide where people should go to school. If tuition is decreased then simultaneously, student debt would be as well.
An education is one of the most important tools a person can acquire. It gives them the skills and abilities to obtain a job, earn a wage, and then use that wage to better their lives and the lives of their loved ones. However, due to the seemingly exponential increase in the costs of obtaining a college degree, students are either being driven away entirely from earning a degree or taking out student loans which cripple their financial prospects well after graduation. Without question, the increasing national student loan debt is one of the most pressing economic issues the United States is dealing with, as students who are debt ridden are not able to consume and invest in the economy. Therefore, many politicians and students are calling
The United States needs to look to other nations that have figured out the necessity of higher education to be at an affordable cost if not free. In 2015, college graduates are facing on average just north of $35,000 in student debt (Berman). In part, the government has reduced the federal funding that each college receives each year. Therefore, colleges have constantly raised the
College debt has risen significantly since “The Great Recession” in 2009. Due to the high college fees, students are faced with lifelong debt. If the rise continues, only the rich will be able to obtain a higher education, resulting in American education to take several steps backwards instead of improving. Although many have tried to fix college debt problem, it has mostly gone unnoticed. Specifically targeting the nation’s youth, college debt is destroying the chances of the lasting effects on the economy from fully recovering.
Did You know college debt in the United States estimates to about $1trillion?Pretend you just graduated college and you are ready to get your life started. You start fresh, find a good paying job, and boom, you get hit with tons and tons of debt that you owe. Now you’re stuck not being able to have as much money as you’re making because you have to pay off all of that debt. College debt is what a student in college is paying to attend that college. Before the late 20th century, college debt wasn’t as big of a problem as it is today.
It is no big secret that, in America today, most high-paying jobs require a college degree. Thomas C. Frohlich of USA Today stated that “graduating from college is a prerequisite for the vast majority of high-paying jobs”(2013). With the cost of a college degree increasing in unison with demand, few can earn a degree without the help of student loans. The American Student Assistance website reports that of the twenty million students enrolled in college, about sixty percent are attending with the help of student loans (2014). Obviously, student loan debt affects the individuals that obtain them. However, it also has severe effects upon the nation’s economy.
In the year 2007, 18.2 million students enrolled into college. About thirty-nine percent of those students were between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four (Marcus). College is seen as something one must do to be able to have a successful life or career. Student debt is almost guaranteed for anyone that goes into college. Seventy percent of bachelor's degree recipients graduate with student debt. Student loans in just the U.S. alone are up to 1.2 trillion dollars, this is the second highest level of consumer debt, just trailing behind mortgages (Snyder). Student debt has been an issue for anyone thinking about going into, that is attending, and graduating or leaving college. How to solve this issue is very simple, which is to save money, lower
It is 2017, and the amount of the student debt in the United States is spiraling out of control. 1.4 trillion dollars, those mountains of money are currently owed by 44 million Americans in the federal student loan debt. Moreover, this type of debt looms large all over the auto debt, even more than all the credit card debt, according to the press release of Consumer Federation of America. That is a number that helps to imagine how huge it is. Consequently, many Americans are heavily in debt in their twenties because they strive to achieve a higher education, which leads to many downside effects on the whole country; however, an effective solution to solve this problem would be for the government to give free college to help people be debt-free.
College Students are exiting college with empty pockets. In the year 2015 the average amount of debt students are graduating with is about thirty thousand dollars. The average amount has been on a constant incline and continues to grow by about four percent every year. According to author Katie Lobosco “Colleges are not required by law to report how much debt their students carry, so some don't respond.” (1) so the average amount of student debt is inaccurate. It is likely that the average amount of debt per student exceeds thirty thousand by quite a bit. Billions of dollars in student loan debt goes un recorded which will in turn effect the nation directly.
Student debt is a major issue, especially in the United States. It often impacts on a student education. Mostly, students from middle class family suffer from it. In the United States, the cost of tuition fee is very high, which is the most common reason behind student debt. Though there are various scholarships and federal aids for the students to help with tuition fees, most of the universities and colleges don’t cover full amount of the tuition fees, which leads the students to take loans, which causes student debt. However, there are also difference between universities and the loan system. Federal colleges and universities often have affordable tuition fees, which often don’t require students to take loans. However, tuition fees of private colleges and universities are extremely high, which don’t only require students take loans, but sometimes, the loans are even sufficient to cover all the tuition fees. Moving to the loan system, there are two types of loans; loans with interest and loans without interest. Loans without interest are usually better and affordable to take, but loans with interest are very expensive and not affordable to pay at all. And often, loan with interest is what leads to the student debt. After all, high tuition fees and loans with high interest are the reasons behind student debt and the problems with student debt are enormous. More or less, every one of the problems with student debt impacts on student education, which then impacts on a student
The average American’s financial ability and confidence is being crushed by this mountain of student debt. In turn, more and more people are not able to purchase their own house, or start their own business due to the pressure of paying back their overwhelming student loans. America, being a consumer economy and 60 percent of jobs are created by small businesses, this rising college tuition cost is affecting the majority of Americans and having a crippling effect on the whole economic system (Korkki).
Did you know that American students owe more than 1.3 trillion in student loan debt? With the growing demand for an educated workforce; the rising costs of higher education have many concerned about the price of obtaining a college education. Recent trends reveal that the costs of higher education is steady rising and the average student debt is around $30,000. This has had an impact on the average student funding college, even after grants, scholarships, and financial aid has been applied. In fact, according to Mitchell, Palacious, and Leachman (2014), between 2007-08 and 2012-13, Pell Grant was increased from $16 to $33 billion. This offset some of the increased tuition and fees for students. However, it is still not enough.
In the United States today, the number of students graduating college with student loan debt is quite astonishing. In the article titled, “How the $1.2 Trillion College Debt Crisis Is Crippling Students, Parents And The Economy”, we will examine and break down the student loan debt crisis by the numbers. Today, almost two-third’s of students graduating college are graduating with an average of $26,000 in debt. For most students, $26,000 is a lot of money when the average annual income for a first year graduate is only in the mid $40,000 a year range. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, student loan debt has reached a new milestone, crossing the $1.2 trillion mark (Denhart, 2013, Introduction, par. 2). With student loan debt levels
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 68.4 % of 2014 high school graduates will be enrolled in colleges and universities, and an even higher percent of 72.7% will enroll as graduates. Though this is an excellent statistic, who will be paying for all this education? The students, of course! U.S. News & World Report, a multi-platform news publisher with an authenticated annual ranking of colleges says that the average student loan debt by the end of their senior year is quickly approaching $30,000 and in some states beyond that amount. At the University of California, students are paying around $37,000 for tuition only. The average of the ten most expensive schools amounts to $50,632. All these are rates, of course, do not include the further necessary thousands for books, room, board, and several costs of living.
Student debt is slowing the growth of the U.S economy because it makes graduates not able to spend on goods and progress their lives. The obvious problem, supported with statistics, show that the increasing of tuition costs and student debt balances to be harming to the growth of America’s economy and its people. How? Statistics show that Americans owe more than $1.45 trillion dollars in student debt, shared amongst 44 million people. You would think by knowing this fact students will reconsider attending a four-year college, yet it doesn’t affect enrollment at all. What’s more concerning is college graduates leaving school with an average of $34,000 of student debt, according to Federal Reserve’s Bank of New York, effecting young Americans in many ways leaving them stuck in excelling at life.