Graduation Speech : High School

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

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.

Individuals dealing with student debt "are postponing marriage, childbearing and home purchases, and pretty evidently limiting the percentage of young people who start a business or try to do something entrepreneurial," said Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University and the former Republican governor of Indiana (qtd. in Holland). Because it’s almost universally accepted that college is the key to success, students are finding themselves falling head-over-heels in large amounts of student debt justified only by these universal standards. Student debt doesn’t just burden the individuals who are liable, the sheer amount of debt has begun to rattle institutions and financial patterns that are at the core of American society (Holland).

A decade ago, student loans barely existed. Today, however, American students borrow up to couple million dollars a year to attend college. An entire generation is burdened with debt, and affected by the modern phenomena known as the “student debt crisis.” In recent years, student loan borrowing rates have risen notably, leading to concern about the public financial risks associated with the financial challenges faced by many students. Of late, the United States government has given out about $170 billion in financial aid annually in an effort to encourage students to attend postsecondary education. Such funding are usually supported by research that consistently finds positive and growing average economic benefits of

In the U.S. students are encouraged to earn a college degree, but the cost of an education turns many away. “Driven by the allure of a decent salary with a college degree, Americans borrowed to go to school. Outstanding student debt doubled from 2005 to 2010, and by 2012 total student debt in the U.S. economy surpassed $1 trillion” (Mian, Sufi 167). There are plenty of opportunities to obtain funds for college, including one of the most common, student loans. A student loan is defined as “a common way to fund education, specifically college and graduate school, and they provide educational opportunities that you otherwise may not be able to afford” (Barr). Student debt is at an all-time high in America. Over half of all lower income

An estimated 20 million Americans attend college each year, and 60% of those students borrow annually to pay for it (qtd. in asa.org, “Student Loan Debt Statistics”). Moreover, citizens continuing to pay off debt after schooling brings the overall number of student-loan-borrowers to about 40 million- with a collective 1 trillion dollars in debt (McCarthy, “10 Fun Facts About the Student Debt Crisis); a fourth of these borrowers owe over $28,000, a tenth owe over $54,000, 3.1% owe more than $100,000, “and 0.45 percent of borrowers, or 167,000 people, owe more than $200,000” (Haughwout, “Grading Student Loans”). While some view this predicament as the result of laziness or carelessness, the bulk of this substantial group are not at fault.

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.

With the 2016 presidential election looming in the near future, the subject of student loan debt has become a major issue on the campaign trail. The national amount of student loan debt is 1.08 trillion dollars, with 11.5% of that amount in default or in 90+ day delinquent. To put that in perspective, total consumer debt at the end of 2013 was 11.52 trillion .(Forbes, 2014) According to an in class poll, only 7 students out of 169 students were completely confident in their knowledge of student loans. However, if we had lower tuition and expenses students wouldn’t have to take a loan out in the first place.

While higher education continues to grow in popularity as an important investment in American society, the student loan debt that accompanies this education also continues to grow as a burden to the American economy. Although the plethora of debt most commonly applies to graduate students and college dropouts rather than undergraduate students, student loan debt has accumulated to $1.2 trillion and continues to grow. Student loan debt made up 13% of the debt accumulated for adults between the ages of 20 and 29 in 2005, and has grown to account for 37% of the age group’s debt in 2014. Even though the government made $66 billion in profit on federal student loans from 2007 to 2012, the American economy shows very little positive feedback if any at all. About ten million federal student loans are taken out annually with an average loan balance of $15,900 in 2005 and up to $25,500 in 2014. The debt accumulated from these loans has made a larger gap in economic inequality, has limited entrepreneurship, and has prevented future loans from being taken out because of damaged credit ratings. Student loan

In 2016, college grads graduated with an average of $37,172 in student loan debt. This is a 6% increase from the previous year, and the rates increase as colleges become more expensive. Going to a University or College is looked upon as a luxury or a privilege nowadays. Good paying jobs that supply good living standards are requiring at least a bachelor’s degree to be considered for hiring. Any persons, including college students, should not be forced to live with, be pressured by, or be under the control of student loan debt. Student loan debt has been proven to have an impact on a person’s mental health. It keeps the less fortunate from having a chance to prosper in a competitive workforce, and the system that provides financial aid (FAFSA) doesn’t always meet a person’s needs completely. College should be an earned right for those who have stuck through the education process as an adolescent.

Higher education comes at an extremely high price. The excitement of graduating college to land the six-figure job is soon destroyed when students realize how much debt they’ve obtained. Dreams of owning a house and starting a family are shattered by the money borrowed to provide and guarantee students an excellent future. Instead of waiting to land the ideal job, students work multiple jobs to help ends meet. Struggling to stay afloat, millions of students become victims of one of the major economic crisis in the United States today; Student debt.

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

Most American students desire to have a successful financial life by earning a college degree. Many students realize they can not afford a college education and look to student loans. Unfortunately, the majority of college graduates are unable to find a job in their field so, and they fail to pay the money back on student loans. The question that everyone wants to know is,“ How do we fix the ever-growing student debt crisis? That’s the $ 1.3 trillion question looming over the United States, and there’s no clear answer--or even much of a consensus” (Mcgrath, Forbes). Student loan debt has become a growing crisis because of the ailing economy, high-interest rates, and the overall impact of student loans on a student’s financial future.

Student loans are making college more expensive, and being one of the many reasons why many college students dropout without a degree, which can have an impact in America’s economy. This bar graph represents the comparison student loan debt of households throughout three years (1989, 1998, 2010). This demonstrates that as time passes more people take out student loans due to the college tuition increasing every year, and many Americans cannot afford to pay college out of pocket. As a result, many Americans have large amount of debts and loans. The students in the purple are the ones who face more troubles in paying back their student loans and many of them can face economic struggles that will eventually affect the nation as

To understand why solutions, need to be found and acted upon for those with student loan debt, we must first understand the impact the cost is having on Americans. For all too long news articles have provided stats of higher pay for those who complete any level of education above a high school diploma. The average college graduate starting pay rate breaks the threshold between lower income and middle-income brackets. Finding ways to move individuals out of the lower income class and into the middle-income class has been a huge push of the US government. Moving individuals beyond that threshold lessons