Student Loan Debt Analysis

Student debt is a topic that generates a lot of debates. From politicians to lenders to students, everyone has an opinion on the topic. With a trillion dollar national debt, it’s not surprising why the topic is such a huge issue and the solutions are even greater. The student debt is a form of debt that is owed when a student has completed college or drop out. The average interest rates for the ungraduated and graduated are 4.45% to 6% (Quadlin). To pay off all the students’ debt, it will take 10-25 years to complete it. College students will have at least six months before they have to make the first payment. Student debts can be a real problem for those who aren’t preparing for them. Student loans debt should have a longer grace period, lower monthly payments and repayment programs that apply to all because students will be able to manage and repay their debts in a timely manner.

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.

Problems in the student loan market are not just harming students but are also exacerbating problems with the United States’ recovery from the Great Recession. New York Federal Reserve Bank data has found that outstanding student debt topped $1 trillion in the third quarter of 2013, and the share of loans delinquent 90 days or more rose to 11.8 percent. Furthermore, the share of 25-year-old Americans with student debt increased to 43 percent in 2012 from 25 percent in 2003, while the average loan balance rose 91 percent, to $20,326 from $10,649 (Gage and Lorin). More than 40 million Americans are in student loan debt and because of this, more than 40 million Americans are not able to stimulate the economy as they are not able to buy houses or cars, or start businesses or families (Applebaum). In Wisconsin alone, student loan debt has resulted in a loss of over $200 million annually from new car purchases, while also resulting in middle class households with student loan debt overwhelmingly renting homes instead of owning them (Vanegeren).

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.

When individuals are in college, they are often blissfully of just how much student loan debt that they are racking up. When individuals graduate from college, they often have a high degree of sticker shock when they realize just how much student loan debt they have accrued. People are also of the mindset that there is nothing they can do with their student loan debt but pay for it. However, they are plenty of programs that individuals can use to pay off their student loan debt or even have it completely cancelled. The first step is simply to ask. Sometimes even asking the student loan servicer will help individuals to get their student loans debts cancelled or forgiven. Here are tips for working with your student loans:

“[I] am a PhD student working a full time job that pays less than $21,000 a year. By the time I finish this degree I will have well over 80,000 in student loans, which have already began to gather interest and make weight on my credit…”("Real Life Student Debt Stories • Student Debt Crisis" Sarah March 26, 2016 Illinois).

Student loan debt in the United States is expanding unrestricted each year. There are 36 million Americans today, holding over $740 billion dollars in student loan debt. (U.S. 2013) The current student loan system is intended to open doors to economic prosperity for those who could not otherwise afford to go to college. Research suggests that the unintended consequence of too much available student credit is real people losing prosperity and languishing in debt for extended periods of their lives. Reducing or eliminating the availability of student loans would have a tremendous impact on improving the lives of Americans. If things continue the way they are now, American’s will soon find college, and its implied ticket to economic

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.

College is not just a choice, it's the beginning of a lifelong journey, one that will shape and determine future choices, decisions and purposes. A high school graduate tends to have no background of job experience or any essential skills to work at a decent company. Throughout the years, America has always debated whether higher education helps people succeed or if needed, but with that come along many risk and benefits for state funding.

In this article by Jeffrey Dorfman he tells readers about President Obama’s plan, using executive action, to help forgive student loan debt. Obama’s plan would give debt forgiveness to student who work in a public service job for ten years. After that preliminary period all debt that has not been paid off is forgiven. Many questions come up about this plan like weather or not taxpayers should be paying for subsidizes for people who are going to have a larger than normal income or people that will have careers that are in low demand? In Dorfman’s opinion people working public service jobs shouldn’t get that big of a break on their student loans because no one else is getting it.

aid is available for students seeking college education, some of those students will not all qualify

According to CNN, “Almost 19% of student loan borrowers owe more than $50,000.Only 6% of borrowers had that much in 2001.” (Gillispe, 1). Why has student loan debt increased so much? Student Loan debt has become a national problem with no solution. Many students are borrowing more money to keep up with the rising cost of tuition in universities, leaving themselves with thousands of debt after graduation. Students after gaining this debt, have to find jobs to support it which can come at a challenge after the financial crisis of 2008. So there stands a problem between students having massive amounts of loan debt and getting jobs to pay this debt off. Advocates or liberals think forgiving this debt is a good idea, while opponents or conservatives think it is not even an option. This essay will focus on the controversial topic of forgiving student loan debt and why something should be done about the massive debts graduates have. It is important to first look at the history of student loans and how the student loan crisis came about in order to understand the controversy.

Education is one of the main social institutions in today’s society. That is why it is so difficult for me to understand why it is becoming so unaffordable in the past few years. When did wanting to further education become such a burden for graduated students? There are 41 million Americans that have over $1.2 trillion dollars in student loan debt. According to the Project on Student Loan Debt, the average graduate with a bachelor’s degree pays about $350 a month on student loans for around 19 years. I cannot stress enough in how paying for college or paying off loans has become such a challenge for students who are not provided with financial aid or enough financial aid to pay for all their necessary classes. There is also the challenge in

With around 2 million high school graduates making the translation between high school and college each year, and the cost of higher education drastically increase, it is safe to say that one of the most important issues facing young Americans in the upcoming presidential election is the rising cost of a college education.