Increasing Student Debt

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

Americans have amassed more than $1.3 trillion of student loan debt (Clements). A lot of graduates are postponing life events like having kids, buying a house, to deal with the debt. About 14% of student are in default. Default means failing to make payments on your loan as scheduled. Defaults usually results in larger loan balances. With this upcoming election, it 's crucial for candidates to address student loan debt and their solutions. As a potential voter, it’s important I select the candidate that will benefits me and get rid of my loan debt.

As a mother of four, a large number of the social problems described in the text can and does directly relate to myself, as well as, my family especially regarding the matter of education. However, the problem directly affecting my family and I is the emerging social problem of rising student loan debt. Student loan debt is a problem that has begun to seep into the very mainstream of society as more and more individuals attend college, especially those with great financial needs. Personally, I am lucky to say that I do not need to borrow money to attend IRSC which has been a major blessing that has allowed me to better my education. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about my husband, who graduated from Florida State University with student loan debts around $30,000 dollars. $30,000 dollars is a relatively average amount, according the Institute for College Access and Success(TICAS) 70% of college students graduate with student loan debt, with an average of $28,950. While this amount is overall average in our society, combined with the costs of raising four children, as well as, having only one working family member who makes a relatively low salary as a school teacher, it puts significant financial strain on my family. Rising student loan debt just doesn’t affect my family and I, it affects millions of Americans, especially those who are poor and cannot afford college. Rising student loan debt is a societal problem that is hampering millions of young Americans

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.

As of 2016, the average college graduate owes thirty-seven thousand dollars in loans (Glum). As a whole, Americans owe a grand total of 1.3 trillion dollars. These are figures that grow every year, and worse, the number of people who are defaulting on their payments grows as well. The issue of the student loan crisis is serious, which is why potential solutions are now being discussed. Presidential candidates for the election of 2016 have discussed solutions that range from Hillary Clinton’s debt-free college plan to Bernie Sanders’ free tuition plan funded by taxing Wall Street, while numerous scholars and business intellectuals have suggested amending the bankruptcy code to allow for discharging student loans as a solution to the crisis (Josuweit). In this essay, I will primarily discuss the numerous but limited ways amending the bankruptcy code can alleviate the crisis, and then I will offer alternate solutions to supplement the aforementioned solution.

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.

This topic has become a very important issue, with some people saying that student loans could be the next bubble and could do what the real estate bubble did to the U.S economy in 2007 and 2009. If student loans are becoming such an epidemic something should be done to better help people with student loan debt. This paper argues that North Dakota should devise a new policy regarding student loans that would help ease the financial burden that student loan debt puts upon college graduates because it would decrease the total amount of student loan debt, it would help stimulate the economy, and it would provide an even greater incentive to go to college. This paper’s intention is not to argue that college is not worth going into. This policy would consist of making student loans dischargeable through bankruptcy, increasing the amortization period with a lower interest rate, providing incentives, and increasing state funding of higher educations institutions.

The message of student loan debt has been sinking in. According to Financial Aid Director Jim Kennedy, student loan debt has decreased 44 million in the last two years. With these three ideas students have been able to realize the importance of student loan debt and how to use it properly in college. This also helps when students hit the real world after they graduate college. They have multiple ways to pay the loans back do to the great methods that were

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

As Young teenagers become adults and start College, one issue that doesn’t seem as a big deal at the moment for many students are student loans. Young college students who don’t have the money, don’t have enough scholarship money, or family who doesn’t have the money to pay, will apply for student loans each year. They amount the student receives can vary depending on the college and what the student has achieved academically. Though interest rates are low with subsidized being 4.29% and unsubsidized being 5.84% ("Federal Student Aid" Interest rates and Fees), student loans still have a huge effect on college students once they graduate. One college graduate’s story helps explain the struggles for most students:

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

Your current plan on lowering student debt interest rates will benefit higher earners more than lower earners, which gives off the idea of helping those who need it the most. The New York Fed found out that the people who owe the least are the ones having the most trouble paying their loans because they tend to have lower wages, a higher unemployment rate or are simply continuing their education. If you do decide to go ahead with this plan it should benefit those who need it the

Mr. President Obama, we have a major problem. This education system has to change. We as students need the federal government to find a better way for us to attend school and not have to pay a lot of money for it. Students in this generation are not going to college just because it costs more money than they can spend. The only way the students to go to school would be to get loans, unless they get scholarships. The main issue is the loans that need to be paid back by the college students 6 months after they graduate. This could be a big problem because in the economy people don’t have enough money to pay out of pocket. “Just 14% of this year’s college seniors have steady, career-type jobs lined up for their lives after graduation” (Owens, 2015). That is very low compared to all of the people who graduated from different schools in this country. “Between 2003 and 2012 the number of 25-year-olds with student debt increased from 25% to 43%” (College Education, 2013) In 2014, the average student debt was about $33,000 (Izzo, 2014). Then in 2015, the average student debt was about $35,000 (Sparshott, 2015). There are many children in this world. Most of them would like to have the chance to attend some kind of college. This situation can be a massive problem because of the ability to pay a loan back after 6 months can be hard if students don’t receive any type of employment. Many of these jobs would not help you pay back a loan and all of the other bills that a typical adult

In 2016, an accumulation of almost 1.4 trillion dollars of student loan debt was outstanding in America (Kess). Students from all over the nation, and the world for that matter, are going to higher education without the financial ability to do so. One of the few options for financial aid available to these prospective college students is to take out student loans to pay for the high tuition of most universities and colleges. While these loans are a modality for attending higher education, they often come with strings. Along with being several thousand dollars in debt, interest also accumulates into the total amount of the owed financial total. Until these loans are repaid the interest keep accumulating and the debt grows. With debt still affecting students negatively well after they finish their higher education, the price of college tuition should be abated.

If an aspiring college student doesn’t have the necessary funds to attend school, there is another option they could use to pay for school. Student loans are a popular choice so that the student can pay for school. While this may seem like a great option for affording school, it can be a devil in disguise for many. The New York Times reports that Americans owe over 1.4 trillion dollars in student loan debt (Kelly 1). This happens when a college student takes loans with the belief that the college degree they get will help them achieve a higher salary which will in turn will help them pay off their debt. This often isn’t the case. A student takes the loans and attends school, but does not receive the salary that they were hoping to acquire from attending school. A standard payment plan for students is to pay off their debt in ten years, but according to a study conducted by US News, the average bachelor degree holder takes twenty-one years to pay off (Bidwell 1). This is a common occurrence as well, a report conducted by The Institute for Collee Access and Success shows that in 2012, seventy-one percent of college graduates had student debt (Serrato 1). The current system that the government offers to help those struggling to afford a secondary education is a flawed program that needs restructuring.