Problems With Student Debt

“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.

Perhaps one of the greatest concerns that torments America’s new generation is pursuing higher education in order to make more money and while avoiding being in debt, decades after graduation. This topic has become even more as tuition continues to rise and politicians are left to ponder the best course of action to insure that the next generation of Americans is more educated than the last. One particular solution was posed by former president, Barack Obama, who promoted the idea of free community college. Although, it may not be the most direct or most elegant solution, it would certainly be a push in the right direction. By making community college tuition free nationwide, states would become more invested in accommodating the influx of students, lead different school systems to compete by lowering tuition prices, and finally address America’s shortcoming in adults who possess more than just high school diploma.

The main problems with student debt are the high monthly payments, high interest, short grace period, and repayment programs that does not apply to everyone. Majority of students can’t pay back loans they have borrowed because they aren’t given enough time to pay them off. Students have at least six months to pay off their debt before they get an increase in interest. Over 75% percent of students have to get loans to pay for their first year of college and more (Quadlin). Debt is something we all have to deal with even parents suffer from them as well.

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

Sometimes, though, the problem isn't the debt or a person's salary. The problem is the way student loans get billed.

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.

Education these days is vital for many job titles. It can become difficult for many people to receive a job without a high school and especially a college education. Most jobs in America, from sales manager to registered nurse and even a construction worker in some cases, require an education past high school. With the cost of college, at average ten thousand dollars at state schools, not accounting for living quarters or even meals, it is leaving many students in large overbearing debt. Many have looked for the solution of this strenuous debt and one of their solution is to make the first two years debt free. By making the first two years of college debt free, it would encourage more people to attend college, expand the educational horizons of our nation, increase employment rates of America, and it could be done without causing a larger debt on America.

It becomes a major controversy when the idea of something being “free” is brought up in this economy. Money is what operates the economical system and it’s the factor that leads colleges in providing resources for their students. President Obama’s idea of having community college be free leaves many skeptical on whether it can be beneficial, or in some ways hurtful. However, there are upsides to allowing community college to be free. Community College should be free because it will cause a diversity of students to attend, allow students to save money, and offer an opportunity for those who aspire to continue their education.

In the United States there are already a few different states that are offering free college tuition. Those states being, Rhode Island, Tennessee, San Francisco, New York, Oregon and a few others. Let’s focus on the state of San Francisco a little more. In the article “San Francisco will offer free college tuition to residents” Amanda Hoover states, “Mayor Ed Lee announced an agreement to budget $5.4 million in tuition for the college Monday. Officials say that will cover tuition for current students and allow the school to expand enrollment by 20 percent. Low-income students who qualify will also see the cost of their books covered in small grants.” This will give hope to those which don’t have enough money to afford

Over the last decade student loan debt has risen substantially and is now one of the largest form of personal debt in America, totaling about one trillion dollars, with 71 percent of students who earn a bachelors degree graduating with debt, with the average amount of debt being $29,400.

Why do college students takes on more debt than they need? John C. Ninfo II is a retired federal bankruptcy judge who wrote an article in the Daily Messenger called “Avoid crippling student loan debt.” on August 22 of 2013. In the article, John C. Ninfo talks about how college student are getting in a lot of debt after leaving college.. John C. Ninfo talks about ways to avoid huge amount of debts in his article. Learning about these kind of information provide to us by John C. Ninfo helps us understand ways to go about minimizing students loan.

In 1976, the average cost to attend a four year public university was $2,175; today, the average cost to attend a four year public university is $25,000 (Snyder). This means it is 1150% more expensive to go to college in The United States today than it was 30 years ago. This obviously would create a problem on how we as people are going to pay for our higher education. Today college has become almost a necessity to have a satisfactory life, and with these rising prices some individuals believe student loans are the only option. There are many reasons as to why the prices have risen, but the one undeniable fact is that this has created a problem within our country. Which, is known as the student debt crisis, and it has been on the rise the past couple years. This problem is affecting people all around the United States, and is causing multitude of problems for them all because they wanted to pursue higher education. Wanting to better your opportunities by bettering yourself is not something that needs to be punished, and sadly that is what is happening. This problem is something that needs to be fixed for the sake of Americans and our economy, but will also take time and a multitude of steps to correct.

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.

This proposal would make all community colleges free nation-wide for only “responsible students.” It would also help students achieve half of their bachelor’s degree for free. Obama once stated that by the year of 2020, there would be about thirty-five percent careers that need at least a bachelor’s degree, while another thirty percent expects an associate’s degree. There are separate requirements and expectations for all students, community colleges, and the federal government. Around the same time, President Obama introduced another proposal called the American Technical Training Fund. This proposal is meant to increase students’ education and technical training fields or programs (Hudson). Towards the beginning of January of 2015, President Obama put Tennessee’s free college plan in the spotlight. There was some success when this started. Over three-fourths of about sixty-five thousand high school seniors signed up for this free community college plan. What was interesting was that it included a lot of seniors who before did not want to go to college after high school. Although, not all of the people who applied are going to go to a community college. According to Mike Krause, he thinks that there will be more than ten thousand students who enroll in community college and about twenty percent of these students were the ones who did not want to attend a community college (Kelderman 1). Free community college would help and support a lot of students, but there are always requirements

The sheer amount of debt that a college student acquires after they finish their schooling is an egregious sum. The average amount that a borrower owes after they graduate is $26,000 (Denhart). These now excessive amounts of debt are thrust upon graduates, both young and old, and could take several years to pay off. Additionally, the national student debt has increased from $80 billion to $500 billion from 1995 to 2011 ("Student debt"). A young adult, fresh out of school, potentially has few approaches to attempt to decrease a debt of such enormity with perhaps a limited income. While less than 1% of people have loans