The Suicide Among Student Debtors

Student loan debt has become a discouraging problem throughout today’s economical foundation. “Overall debt is falling but student loan debt is increasing year-over-year and at a much faster rate,” chief executive David Stevens told The Washington Post. “[Young graduates] are already on the margin for being able to qualify for a mortgage. If you add on a

After graduation, students find themselves in the daunting situation of how to pay their loans. Students accept jobs they dislike, they begin to depend on their parents, or resort to dropping out (Hart). Many student find themselves unable to continue their education so they decide either to drop out or transferred to cheaper schools, such as a community college, consequently placing themselves at a disadvantage in the careers they desire to enter. In fact, per an article written by Rachel Beckstead, “those without a college degree are twice as likely to be unemployed as those with one.” Loan debts are a steadfast threat; however, it goes beyond the present

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.

The United States needs to look to other nations that have figured out the necessity of higher education to be at an affordable cost if not free. In 2015, college graduates are facing on average just north of $35,000 in student debt (Berman). In part, the government has reduced the federal funding that each college receives each year. Therefore, colleges have constantly raised the

When we think about college and a college education, it seems as though our first initial thought is the student loans and debt that can result in achieving a college degree. Looking back, student debt has risen drastically and has made it extremely stressful for students and families. Many people go through their entire life in debt, especially from being a student. Student debt has always existed; however, now, it is so extreme, almost all students who attend college find themselves deep in debt, and must continue paying off their debt many years after they graduate. For the past two decades, student debt has risen, illustrating how big this social problem has become. The reason student debt is a significant social problem is because of how much it can effect a person’s life, and their families lives, that can carry over to their future. Although there were many things that led up to and impacted the drastic student debt that is now being faced by many students around the world, the corporation Sallie Mae, was the essential factor in why student debt has skyrocketed to unreasonable proportions. Sallie Mae provided the first type of corporation that changed its focus from helping students, to helping themselves. The history and scope of the student debt can help us understand that the corporation, Sallie Mae, was the main cause of this problem.

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.

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.

After reading about the historic court case of Robert Murphy, an unemployed 65-year-old man fighting to have over $200,000 in student loan debt dismissed through bankruptcy, I began to think “Have I been lied to about my investment in a college education”? Well, the answer is yes; we have all been lied to! Student loan debt is an invisible phantom that follows millions of Americans through their lives. We are told, however, that this invaluable investment is well worth the risk of living in financial destitution for the rest our lives. The truth is it creates even more hardships on Americans in the form of debt. I and millions of others are tired of the lies! If college is going to continuously be America’s golden standard for economic advancement, our next leader needs to fix the affordability of the higher education system and the debt that burdens Americans once and for all.

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

College is where you go to get higher sources of education. Many high school students dream of attending college in order to attain more knowledge, yet so many people fail to realize the cost of college. Attending college, currently, is nearly impossible to do without being in some sort of financial debt or seeking out government help. According to the American Association of University Professors, “two-thirds of American college students graduate with substantial debt, averaging nearly $30,000 (if one includes charge cards) in 2008 and rising.” (AAUP, 2012) Although going to college is beneficial, there is an argument on whether or not going to college is worth the possible debt incurred. The goal

As decades pass by, obtaining a college degree seems more necessary to get a decent job after graduating. Therefore, high school students feel the pressure to get into a good university and to get the highest degree possible, even when they have no plan on how to pay for it. Financial aid has not kept up with growing tuition prices, and taking out student loans seems almost impossible to avoid. According to research, “About 40 million Americans hold student loans and about 70% of bachelor’s degree recipients graduate with debt.” (Market Watch) The U.S currently has a total of 1.3 trillion dollars of outstanding debt. There is a ton of controversy on how to solve this issue, but there are progressive solutions schools and college kids need

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

Student debt in the United States is one of the biggest growing economic threats in our nation today; college students are taking out large loans for four year public, and private colleges and generally cannot pay off the loans until 10 years after they graduate: “Without student loans many cannot attend college, but many students don't pay off loans until 10 years after they graduate, on average for a bachelor's degree it can take up to 21 years to pay off.” (Johnson), which affects the way graduates succeed after they are out. No solution has been found, and many are blind from the issue, Hans Johnson of the Institute of California says:  “Student debt has hurt the employment, and wage prospects

The cost of tuition at colleges and universities in the United States has seen a steady increase over last several decades. Since the 1980s, the list price for tuition has risen by roughly 7% per year, while the inflation rate has averaged 3.2% per year. The effect of this mismatch in the rise of the cost of tuition versus the average inflation rate has had monumental effects on the ability of students to afford a higher education. This, in turn, has forced more students to take out increasingly large amounts of loans, causing for the national student loan debt to grow to over $1 trillion dollars, more than total credit card