Avoid Crippling Student Debt Summary

While this is often true, it can create problems when a student does not have the money to pay for a quality education. The cost of college has risen an estimated 250-500% over the last 30 years while consumer price index has only increased by 115 percent during the same time frame (White, 2015; Eskow, 2014). The amount of student loan debt is increasing, along with the cost of college. The income of many young people today cannot keep up with the rising costs of college education and housing. Part of the problem with student loan debt begins when students choose to attend a college that exceeds their financial resources and rely on federal student loans as well as private student loans to make up the difference. Eskow found that even public colleges and universities are becoming difficult to pay for without taking out student loans often averaging $30,000 for tuition, room, and board (2014). Since many people do not have enough money to cover college education expenses, they rely on student loans, both federal and private, to fill the gap. Financial advisor Ramsey stated that often the loans students take out pay “for an off-campus standard of living, and no debt was needed to get the degree” (2013). “The Project on Student Debt reported in 2013 over ⅔ graduating seniors were leaving school with student loans” averaging approximately $28,400 (White, 2015). Taking on almost $30,000 in debt before even starting a career can have a significant impact. It can force people to get a job just to pay off the student loans, not based on what they got an education for prepared for or what they studied. This also can cause a setback in future plans, having to delay many adult milestones due to lack of

This report examines the increasing trends in the amount of debt students are graduating with. The purpose of this report is to prove why these trends need to be stopped, and how they can be stopped. After viewing the statistics from 1993 to the present it will be obvious that student debt is not rising at a steady pace, but that its growth is leading to large financial burdens by many students. Recommendations are given about the actions that can be taken by not only students, but everyone to help improve this dire situation. The changes that student loans have been through over the last couple of years will have a lasting effect on current students, prospective students, parents, and those who have graduated and

“Ensuring quality higher education is one of the most important things we can do for our future generations” (Ron Lewis). There are more students enrolling in post-secondary schools than ever before and consequently there are more students acquiring large debts. Once a student graduates, they enter a $33,000 or more student loan debt (Students Loan Resources). These student loans continue to place graduates into large debts, which is largely caused by their lack of knowledge of available resources, and this impacts their everyday lives and future generations.

5. Base on class statistics 83 percent out of 16 percent thinks the government should forgive student loan debt once a student has completed college and has obtain a job in the field of study.

A problem with student loan debt is that students gain more debt because they are not able to pay off the student loans within the given time which also causes them to put certain life decisions on hold. According to Sophie Quinton debt is a problem for the recent college graduates because “There’s currently no way to get rid of federal student debt other than paying off the loans. while some borrowers are paying off their debts just fine, overall they are adding debt faster than they are shedding it”(Quinton). According to Jamaal Abdul-Alim stated that a “survey - titled Student Loan Debt: Who’s Paying the Price?- revealed a number of troubling statistics about the practical ways that student loans are impacting college graduates in their everyday lives. For instance the survey found that: 49

With the ever-increasing tuition and ever-tighten federal student aid, the number of students relying on student loan to fund a college education hits a historical peak. According to a survey conducted by an independent and nonprofit organization, two-thirds of college seniors graduated with loans in 2010, and each of them carried an average of $25,250 in debt. (Reed et. al., par. 2). My research question will focus on the profound effect of education debt on American college graduates’ lives, and my thesis statement will concentrate on the view that the education policymakers should improve financial aid programs and minimize the risks and adverse consequences of student loan borrowing.

Here in the United States, there are many forms of consumer debt, which help contribute to the large sums of debt countless Americans find themselves faced with. Directly effecting many college students is student loan debt. Student loan debt is now the second largest form of consumer debt behind housing” declares the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Grisales). This is due to the fact that student loan debt grew 7.1% in 2014 to $1.2 trillion (Grisales). If this statistic alone is not worrisome this next one is sure to be. The amount of debt in the housing market that helped to spark the last recession was only $1.3 trillion (Grisales). Due to the increased amount of debt required by students to attend college many students are feeling the wrath. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “In 2014, 11.7 percent of females and 17.7 percent of males between the ages 25 and 34 were living with their parents” (Grisales). The fear of obtaining massive amounts of debt is driving the current generation of student’s to put off many future hopes and dreams. While causing them to move back home to save money. The current student loan crisis is crippling the economy and ruining the lives of American students.

Student debt has led to many negative consequences for students attending college. Senators tend to have different views when it comes to solving the student debt issue. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, has been concerned about the constant rising of interest rates on student loans throughout the years. She proposes a certain bill to help cut down such rates. Bernie Sanders, another Democratic senator from Vermont, focused on the importance of the young generation earning an education. He attempts to make college more accessible for everyone. Lastly, Robert Reich, a former United States Secretary of Labor, has pointed out that college is not for everyone. He believes that individuals should have a choice rather than being forced into college due to society.

The problem with today’s current level of student loans is that it causes so many people that took out loans to go into debt later on in their life. Now when the former students go into debt, it creates a domino effect. The students going into debt means that the government will be able to get their money paid back to them which causes the country to be buried in an even deeper hole of debt. The nation is currently over 20 trillion dollars in debt and student loan debt is more than 1.5 trillion dollars as well according to the United States Debt Clock as of November 2017. The issue of student loan debt needs to be addressed sooner rather than later to help the country gradually come out of debt. A start to help reduce the amount of debt in

Student loans are becoming more and more of a problem for college students all across the United States. As college tuition has significantly increased over the past years, it has become extremely common for most college students to finance their education through student loans. Tuition has become so expensive that it is almost unheard of for a student to pay for their tuition out of pocket or by working for their education part time. As the result of tuition being so high, many students often graduate from college with thousands of dollars in debt waiting to be paid off. More often than not, people do not think of the consequences of taking out so many student loans, they usually have some reasoning behind why they take out as many student loans as they do and in return do not think about the after-effects and consequences of borrowing that much money. Most people do not worry about their loans because they expect to make a decent salary after graduating and believe that they will be able to pay back all of the loans later on in life. Due to the extreme cost of college and students obligation to take out student loans, college campuses should require students to become aware of the dangers of pulling more student loans than necessary.

As many would be led to believe, student debt affects the vast majority of young people in this country. According to Daniels, seventy percent of students who have recently graduated are now considered to be under the category of borrowers (2015). In relation to the population, that is a total of forty million people (Daniels, 2015). Unfortunately, many of these students are reaching the point of possibly defaulting on the loans they have accumulated (Daniels, 2015). Although students are now being educated about being very careful when taking out loans, many do not have a choice. Student debt seems like a nonstop revolving door for us young people. The sum of the student loan debt that the population of forty million Americans has is a total of $1.2 trillion in college debt (Student-loan debacle, 2014).

Post-secondary education comes at a very high price. The excitement of graduating college to land the six-figure job is soon destroyed when you realize how much debt you are in. Dreams of owning a house and starting a family is shattered by the money borrowed to provide and guarantee students a better future. Instead of waiting to land that perfect job, students are forced to work multiple jobs to help ends meet. Struggling to stay afloat, millions of students are becoming victims of one of the major economic crisis in the United States; Student debt.

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

Facing a seemingly massive debt can create a scare tactic to continue on a path toward a higher and exceptional education. Although there are controllable factors to help lessen the weight of student debt it creates a wall of challenges toward furthering ones education, because of the fear of falling into a seemingly large debt Canadian students are afraid to maximize their education, prohibiting Canada to create and maintain a stronger and more skilled work force.

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