Robin Wilson’s article A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely (2009) outlines the key issues supporting and refuting the increasingly popular sentiment that student-loan borrowing is threatening the financial future of today’s college students. Wilson cites arguments presented in key books, news articles, and television shows, and summarizes the degree to which each portrays “poignant, painful stories” of young college hopefuls that have since become anchored in debt, (p. 257) before employing the works of empirical studies and academic scholars to refute these sensationalized stories. One such work cited is that of Michael S. McPherson (2004), an economist and president of the Spencer foundation, who articulates the notion that “most people …show more content…
(p.256) Wilson’s central claim represents a synthesis of the two extremes, and can be summarized in the sentiment that college is worth borrowing for as long as there is an affordable and sustainable option available.
Wilson first begins with a presentation of those campaigns that voice contradictory opinions often expressed in the sensationalized stories, each marketing the underlying notion that student-debt as a national crisis. (p. 256) Student-debt advocacy groups like the Project on
Student Debt, are not refuting the value of a college education, which is in fact supported by data from the United States Census Bureau which details how on average college graduate earned more than $20,000 in 2007 compared to the average high school graduates. (p. 260) Instead these
Running Head: A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely controversial groups voice three key arguments: (a) that college is not affordable, (b) that the
Martin 4 financial risk is greater than it used to be, and (c) that financial difficulty is further compounded by the limited resources available to students attempting to make the right decisions with
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Alan M.
Collinge (2001) the founder of student loan justice, details his personal struggle with over borrowing in his publication The Student Loan Scam. Collinge portrays himself as an example of the minority, the margin of college graduate that fell victim to the over borrowing trend. (p.262)
Collinge borrowed approximately $38,000 in student loans, graduated from an undergraduate program and a masters program, and ultimately accepted a job with a $35,000 yearly salary. It wasn’t until Collinge fell victim to a series of unfortunate events that he was faced with the grim reality of not being able to make ends meet. (p. 262) The very real problem that Mr. Collinge and other over borrowers face is that when they are faced with unforeseeable events and financial hardship, the only option available to ensure that they can afford their monthly mortgage is to defer their loans. Whether the decision is made because it seemed like a sound idea, or whether it was the option available, in actuality student loan deferment holds borrowers hostage with its hidden and perpetually festering interest rates. (p.
Education comes at a high price for this generation and not just financially. Going to college can give students plenty of debt with no promise of a job in return, which can set a student father back on their course of life. Young adults trying to start their lives by going to college encounter many setbacks. Today the average cost for a private university is $25...
...ancial positions of the borrowers, their lack of knowledge as well as the superior bargaining power of the lender to get the borrowers to agree to these loans. The lenders should bear the major responsibility of these loans, as they are aware of the ramifications of such transactions. The borrowers are also responsible, as they should not enter into contracts without adequately understanding the consequences of such actions. In many cases, the lenders do not provide the information that would assist the borrower in making rational decisions. There are instances when the borrower does not care about the increased penalties, they just want to get their hands on the money, and worry about the consequences later. Some borrowers just live beyond their means but once they get sucked into a predatory loan, they begin a cycle of debt that they just cannot get out of.
First, attending college effects financial awareness. College needs to reduce the cost of their tuition to help students that are struggling financially. The benefit of lowering college tuition fees including the fact that higher education is often a standard job requirement in many fields, but also that lower tuition costs increases the accessibility of education, which in turn creates social mobility that is often beneficial to the economy. Freeman Hrabowski, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County read an article by New York Times called “College is for Suckers.” He mentions that the article “echoes an increasingly common refrain that college is too expensive, that students are taking unmanageable debt.” (Hrabowski 259). even though Freeman states that there are college prep
Recent studies show that the number of individuals who default on their student loans has been steadily increasing as well. Statistics from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) show that between 2004 and 2009 only 37% of federal student loan borrowers were able to make uninterrupted payments; it is an annual average of 7.4% (Cunningham, and Kienzl). According to IHEP, for every one borrower who defaulted, two ...
A high school education is no longer sufficient to succeed in America’s increasingly complex economy. However, because of the high price point of a college education, far too many Americans are unable to afford education beyond high school. As shown in the graph below, the higher level of education received greatly increases the chances for employment and also dramatically increases the average salary potential of an individual.
Wilson, R. (2009). A lifetime of student debt? Not likely. In G. Graff, C. Birkenstein, & R. Durst (Eds.). “They say, I say”: The moves that matter in academic writing with readings. (2nd ed.). (pp. 256-272). New York: W. W. Norton. This article examines how much debt in loans students leave college with and if it is possible to pay it off without it causing extreme distress.
...hew , and Debbie Cochrane. "Student Debt and the Class of 2012." Institute For College Access and Success. December (2013 ): n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
One statistic that Owen and Sawhill presented was “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500 (Figure 1). When we look at lifetime earnings—the sum of earnings over a career—the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree. (Owen, Sawhill pg 641). Owen and Sawhill also mention that “with tuitions rising faster than family incomes, the typical college student is now more dependent than in the past on loans, creating serious risks for the individual student and perhaps for the system as a whole, should widespread defaults occur in the future. Federal student loans now total close to $1 trillion, larger than credit card debt or auto loans and second only to mortgage debt on household balance sheets” (Owen, Sawhill pg 642). Basically, what the authors are saying is college is expensive, but for some career paths, the training and education received in college is necessary to have that job and the benefits outweigh the costs. With a high paying career where a college education is necessary, paying off student loans is no problem. On the other hand, people who go after low paying careers that don’t necessarily need a college degrees,
The most controversial view expressed in the articles was the opinion that a college education is not necessarily worth the cost anymore. In the article most opposed to accessible college education, Charles Murray, the author of the book The Bell Curve, describes why he believes that too many people are going to college. He points out the obvious flaws in the system, in particular that access to a college education has become available to people who may not have the ability to excel on a college campus. The article ends with Murray describing what the post secondary system looks like to an outsider, which he calls flawed from the very start by article ends with Murray stating that “there must be a better way” (242). Some may say that this better way may be
Kayla Webley proves her argument by using strong and persuasive validations. One of her validations is that most people can afford their student loans. She also states that only a small handful of graduate students leave school with an unbearable amount of
Everyone knows that person from high school that just wasn’t cut out for college. It’s not a bad thing by any means, but if you’re thinking about heading off to college like many American teenagers often do, think about this: going to college can be a waste of both your time and your money. I’m not the first to say it, and I sure as hell won’t be the last. In Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill’s essay, Should Everyone Go to College?, the two authors take a strong economic approach to justify going to college. Owen, an ex- senior research assistant at Brookings’ Center on Children and Families and current research associate at the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan center for research on the problems of urban communities, and Sawhill, the co-director of the Center on Children and Families and a senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings, claim that the return on investment (ROI) of a college education is overwhelmingly positive on average; However, they also bring light
Although a college education grows more and more expensive every year. People begin to question whether college is a good idea to invest in or not. “As college costs continue to rise, students and their families are looking more carefully at what they are getting for their money. Increasingly, they are finding that the college experience falls short of their expectations”(Cooper. H Mary). Many people believe that the cost of a college degree has outstripped the value of a degree.Studies show that a college degree will increase your earning power. A lot of people say that a college degree now is worth what a high school diploma was wor...
Bird argues that students should not risk being in debt for the rest of their lives, while Wilson claims that many students graduate with a reasonable amount of debt, therefore going to college ultimately will benefit them. In Bird’s essay, she explains that going to college and graduating with a lot of debt does not always benefit students because jobs in certain fields are scarce, like psychology. College graduates thus do not always get the job they prepared for, instead “most of them wind up doing what there is to do” (Bird 378). Bird refutes the idea that going to college leads to better job opportunities by claiming that the job market is “shrinking” causing a lack of jobs for college graduates entering certain fields. On the contrary, Wilson states that “debt is the best way to pay for education because you’re shifting the cost forward until you can earn more money” (260). She claims that the only reason students graduate with a lot of debt is because they chose to attend the college of their dreams regardless of the cost (257). If students were more reasonable in their college choices, their overall debt would not be so drastic. Wilson believes that even though college students may graduate with a lot of debt, college is still worth the
A college education has become the expectation for most youth in the United States. Children need a college education to succeed in the global economy. Unfortunately for the majority of Americans the price of an education has become the equivalent to a small house. The steep tuition of a college education has made it an intimidating financial hurdle for middle class families. In 1986-1987 school year the average tuition at a private university was $20,566 (adjusted to 2011 dollars) while in 2011 the average cost was $28,500 for an increase of 38.6%. Similarly in public universities there has been an increase in tuition: in the 1986-1987 school year the average tuition at a public university was $8,454 (adjusted to 2011 dollars) while in 2011 the average cost was actually $20,770 for an increase of 145.7%. Most families who are able to save for college try to do so, therefore their children are not left with large amounts of debt due to loans. Nevertheless, families are only able to save on average around $10,000, which is not enough to pay for a full educ...
College. It is the seven-letter word that almost every child will hear thousands of times while they are growing up. They constantly are bombarded by the idea that they must go to college if they want to be successful. However, what if this is a false statement. What if college isn’t as great as everyone makes it out to seem. Well, these days some people believe that young people are better off, not going to college. Over the years the economy around the world has changed. It has prospered, and it has fallen. As the economy went downhill the government began cutting funds in areas that they felt were necessary to exterminate. One of the largest areas of funding that was cut was education. Colleges began receiving less money from the government, resulting in a rapid increase of college tuition fees. Due to this, a lot of people believe that college tuition is too expensive for what you get, and not worth the money. However, most people believe that college is necessary in order to further their education, and in order for them to earn their degree. They think that this degree has the ability to help college graduates get a job and work up to a career that only someone with a college level degree is able to achieve. The truth lies in the facts, and statistics. College is the seven-letter word that all people should be thinking about. A college education is a valuable investment that everyone should strive to achieve, and is completely worth the expensive cost.