Student Loans: A Controversial Issue Of Student Debt

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.

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

Economic impact from rising student loan debt is being felt throughout the United States. According to research performed by the Pew Research Center and Rutgers, between 25-40% of 20- and 30-year-olds are delaying large purchases such as homes and cars (Daniels). The delay of such

In the United States, it is generally accepted that college (or any form of higher education for that matter) is a wise investment that each and every individual should strive for. Each and every year thousands of parents open college funds and future investment plans to ensure that once their child is of age he or she can participate in quality educational programs. While college attendance rates are at a positive all-time high, right behind it follows an astounding $1.3 trillion dollars in student loan debt. Let’s face it, college is expensive, and it’s only getting worse. Could the outstanding quantity of student loan debt be the next national crisis?

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.

The United States student loan debt crisis is worsening by the minute. According to analysts about two students who had taken out a sum of student loan debt default every minute. This default rate is setting the United States up for a major financial crisis. What is driving the nation deeper into the red is the greed of the loan servicers. Although not illegal, loan servicers direct students who appear as a troubled applicant to sketchy and costly loan repayment plans. A branch of what is now known as Sallie Mae is responsible for a majority of the problem, because their sister company Navient “services roughly $300 billion in loans taken out by 12 million borrowers.” (1)

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:

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.

Stern and Larry B. Feinstein that “unless the debtor is living in a cardboard box under the freeway. . .student loans must be repaid.” Students do not have the ability to liquidate their assets and get a fresh start with the absence of student loan debt. The tedious chore of chipping away at the profusion of student loan debt leads to a garnishment of wages, and the debt will continue to accumulate eventually damaging the student’s credit rating. A damaged credit rating will label the student as a “high risk borrower” making it more difficult to receive future loans on a house or car. With 40 million Americans suffering from student loan debt, the economy submits to a tight lending environment and less money in circulation sunsequently decreasing America’s Real

Student debt has become harder and harder for borrowers to pay back. According to Ivanchev, student debt has increased from seven-percent in 2003 to about fifteen-percent in 2012 (2014). If you go into default on your loans you could lose your professional license in some states, or even have your driver’s license suspended. Congress needs to fix student aid so that it’ll lower interest rates, and in some cases forgive debt; according to federal agencies, student debt is creating a major effect on the economy and its borrowers.

Throughout the United States, student loans have been show to drag this economy down. Student loans have been a big problem through many of the years. It has been showing a trend and it is raising and exceeding many of the debt types each year. Many problems that students that have loans cause are, “ 20 percent of respondents indicated they cannot get a loan for other items, are unable to purchase a home, and student loan debt negatively impacts their credit. 18 percent of individuals indicated they are living paycheck to paycheck, “drowning” in debt, and have a large debt load. 13 percent indicated they have a lower quality of life and are unable to afford the extra things. 12 percent indicated they are unable to save for their retirement or their children’s education and feel less secure.” Students that have

Students High in Debts Crisis "The only good thing about student loans is that the day I die my children will not have to pay for them” (Block). The problem with everyone not being able to go to college is the cost of it. Many High school graduates don’t even think about going to college because of how crazy expensive it is. Many students drop outs later on due to not being able to keep paying and the ones who do graduates struggle in paying off their student loans for years.

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