The Student Debt Crisis No institution is perfect, not even Normandale, though it is better than most other community colleges, it still has its problems. Some are minor and short term like a shortage of parking spaces, but others are long term or even crippling to students financial future. The most prominent example of this is student debt. Normandale is far from the only college with this problem, almost every college in America faces this issue. Student debt is hard to avoid with 71% of students that have graduated from a four year program have an average of $29,400 in student debt in 2012 ("Average Student Loan Debt, 1993-2012." Pg.1). Student debt is a major problem that affects most young Americans, but it could be fixed with government funding of community colleges and increased regulation of for profit schools. To understand the magnitude of this problem, it is …show more content…
For starters, if you have around 30,000 of student debt, it can lower the amount of money you can save in your 401k by 350,000 (Holland, Kelley Web Pg.1). This is because you need to pay interest on your loan every year. That interest keeps people from starting retirement savings early. The later you start saving, the less interest accrues in your 401k. That is how a 30,000 loan in someone's early 20’s ends up snowballing into a massive reduction of retirement savings. Students from low income families need to borrow more money therefore, it burdens them more than wealthy students, widening the gap of inequality (Phelps, Hollis Pg. 12). The fact that student debt plagues the low and middle classes significantly more that the upper class, it plays a large part in the shrinking middle class in America. The increased difficulty of paying for college affects low income households the most. This hinders social equality, contributing to class division and the already severe wealth gap ("Introduction to The Rising Cost…” Pg.
There is a widespread concern about rising levels of debt. Debt can become disastrous for those who live alone or those families who are already having problems with supporting their family. The people who might be struck by debt, they might have trouble recovering. Debt can cause Americans to lose their homes and stability they need to feed, and shelter their families. Although debt comes upon us Americans quickly, people can see debt as terrible thing to be stuck with. It has many disadvantages that can devastate to people.
Student loan debt affects college students all over the United States. Today students are having to take out loans in order to pay for all of their college expenses. It can be a pain to deal with the hassle of paying back the loans. The problems with student loans include causing students to go into debt that they are not able to pay them off in the given time which makes them put major life decisions on hold, and the debt stay with the student even through bankruptcy. A solution that would solve these problems is the idea of debt forgiveness which is the idea that the government will get rid of all the loan debt for college graduates.
Andrew Ross, wrote in his article, "Mortgaging the Future: Student Debt in the Age of Austerity”, that the average student debt as of 2012 was over $27,000 (Ross 24). This continual debt deters graduates from pursuing future life events, such as buying a home or a car because they cannot afford to pay for both a home and their student loans. Joseph Stiglitz referred to the percent’s produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “almost 13 percent of student-loan borrowers of all ages owe more than $50,000, and nearly 4 percent owe more than $100,000” in his article, "Student Debt and the Crushing of the American Dream" (Stiglitz 1). This debt that is created can only be the result of one thing, extremely high costs to receive a higher education. The country has made it nearly impossible for students to get a job without a degree, and colleges have made it nearly impossible to survive after graduation because of on going loans. The amount of debt that is owed by students will continue to become higher if nothing is done to stop the increase of tuition costs.
College students graduate with an average student loan debt of approximately $37000. Of course, that's not the whole story. Millions of college graduates have student loan debts ranging from $50,000 to over $200,000.
Student loan debt relief is a controversial issue in America today. Student loan debt affects twelve million college students, roughly 60% of all college attendees, per year (Student Loan Debt Statistics). Student loan debt relief rose to the forefront of economic news during the financial market crash of 2008. The U.S. Government has developed a debt relief plan that extends payments over a 25-year period, with a full forgiveness of all remaining debt at the end of that 25-year term (Ensuring That Student Loans Are Affordable). During this repayment period, payments can be suspended during times of unemployment, giving hardship students a break from their student loan payments. Many people feel that student
College debt can stunt most students from pursuing their college dream and going to their school of choice. Students get scared of the word debt and the numbers that they would be dealing with outside of college. Students are putting aside going to their dream schools because of the fear of how much debt they will get into after college. There are many reasons why people don’t pursue college, or just from not being able to afford it. Students go back and look at not going to their dream college or college at all and regret not taking the challenge and going with what they always wanted to do. Some students experience not being in debt after college and why they think college tuition is right where it needs to be, but others will make shocking choices to not be in debt. College students are choosing not to pursue their dream college or college at all because of finances they would be dealing with after college, debt.
When we think about college and a college education, it seems as though our first initial thought is the student loans and debt that can result in achieving a college degree. Looking back, student debt has risen drastically and has made it extremely stressful for students and families. Many people go through their entire life in debt, especially from being a student. Student debt has always existed; however, now, it is so extreme, almost all students who attend college find themselves deep in debt, and must continue paying off their debt many years after they graduate. For the past two decades, student debt has risen, illustrating how big this social problem has become. The reason student debt is a significant social problem is because of how much it can effect a person’s life, and their families lives, that can carry over to their future. Although there were many things that led up to and impacted the drastic student debt that is now being faced by many students around the world, the corporation Sallie Mae, was the essential factor in why student debt has skyrocketed to unreasonable proportions. Sallie Mae provided the first type of corporation that changed its focus from helping students, to helping themselves. The history and scope of the student debt can help us understand that the corporation, Sallie Mae, was the main cause of this problem.
The presidential race is now consuming America. It is mentioned every morning in the news and in every “scroll” through social media. While important topics such a national security, national debt, and international affairs are brought up constantly in the debate spotlight, higher education is a topic less discussed. However, each presidential candidate has a specific, strategic plan to tackle current issues in higher education. The main issue that candidates believe should be addressed includes college costs and how they impact student debt. Each candidate has a different stance on the issue, and each have a plan to move toward solving the issue. This review will cover the current issue of student debt and how that is impacting America, each presidential candidates strategic plan to tackle this issue, a critique of each presidential candidate’s plan, and a reflection of solutions presented. Each candidate running for the 2016 presidency deserves full recognition, this review will focus on the two leading presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
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
From the beginning of an education in preschool, to the time of graduation 14 years later, everything learned, interpreted, analyzed, understood, or even misunderstood has its effect in the future. The question is always “what do you want to be when you grow up?” As you age, the career dreams develop into a more mature answer. No matter how anyone is raised, there is always someone pushing at least one other person to go to college. Then, that silly career question is turned around on them, “how exactly do you expect me to afford college?” Roughly, about $809.6 billion is spent on college in the United States each year. Along with all the money spent, deb comes trailing along. Everyone can agree college tuition is not cheap, not to mention
Proposal: When going to college, many students run the risk of collecting high amounts of debt, and others drop out, leaving them with no degree and exorbitant amounts of debt. However, the students who do successfully complete college often become stuck with low paying jobs easily accessible to those without a college diploma. Since a beneficial outcome of obtaining a college degree is no longer probable, students should not put their money towards achieving a higher level of education. Point 1: With the rapid growth of college tuition, many students find themselves in seemingly endless piles of debt. Bill Fay, a financial journalist, agrees the average student will accumulate “more than $38,000 in student loan debt.”
Does the amount of student loan debt have an effect on the economy? If so would forgiving student loan debt help lower the national debt or would it just increase it? According to Mary Claire Fischer, a writer for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, “two-thirds of students who receive bachelor’s degrees leave college with an average debt of twenty-six thousand dollars” (Fischer). This means that the average student debt has doubled since 2007 (Ross 24). The total student loan debt is $1.2 trillion with $1 trillion being from federal student loans (Denhart). This debt accounts for six percent of our nation’s $16.7 trillion debt (Denhart). Since student loan debt is such a big part of the national debt, if the student
What do you think of when you hear the words college graduate? Well, in most scenarios, these words would be exciting to someone that just graduated college who have put in years of hard work and dedication to better educate and promote themselves for their future careers. Sadly enough, this is too far common not the case. In today’s society, students are graduating college with piles of debt at an alarming rate. With a troubled economy that is recovering from a recession and jobs difficult to come by for a lot of graduates with bachelor’s degrees, the student loan debt in the United States is bound to be a major crisis that could severely weaken and crimp the economy even more in the coming years.
65.7% of college students have to get student loans to pay for college, and the average student loan debt is $19,237 for a graduating senior in the United States according to the National Post Secondary Student Aid Study. This is no surprise considering that the rate of tuition increases 7% per year, and in some of the more prestigious colleges, students will have to pay well into six figures just to get their education. Even in-state rates for South Dakota, which is comparatively very cheap to practically everything else, students are still paying $40,000 for their education when one factors in dorm living and a meal plan. Most students will need to borrow some money on a student loan to get through school, but how does one know if they're
I still can 't figure out how I have put myself in such a predicament. The same two questions arise day after day for me and there still no answer. Was it worth getting a career that I enjoy to have to pay off for the rest of my life? And was it worth sending my daughter to get the career that she will enjoy to have to pay off for the rest of my life? When I say the rest of my life that is almost literal as I have 30 years to pay these loans off and I am in my forties and have other children entering the academic world soon enough. So yes, it will probably take me to death to pay these school loans off. How I Obtained My School Loan debt? My first school loan came late in my life as I did not start my professional career until my late twenties and by then I was already married and with children. At that time I really did not have the advantage of knowing how to go about choosing a college or university and the financial obligations that it entailed in the future. I just knew that I wanted to become a Physician Assistant and that was all to it. I applied to one school only, and then went to an interview and I was accepted into the program. Overjoyed by starting the program and thinking that my career would support the payback of my loans I started my college education. Out of school ten years now and originally making a $350.00 a month payment I learned to accept that and deducted the monies from my salary and just figured it was part of life, but as I put my daughter