Allan and Davis mention the spike of college cost since 1995 has increased by 150 percent; student debt has increased 300 percent since 2003, and with education, second to the mortgage industry in the nation’s debt, America needs to redirect their attention to the future and focus on education (Allan n. pg). Budget cuts from national to state
In today 's society, many young adults pay thousands of dollars to go to college to be able to get a good job in the future. However, as society continues to move forward many young adults are leaving their campuses with expensive degrees, while also still struggling to get a job. One of the things contributing to the growing risk of going to college is how increasingly expensive it is to go to school. Things like student loan debt are a major contributor to that expense. Casey Bond stated how “The growth of student loan debt is being compared to the recent housing crisis because of the significant growth of subsidized lending,” The primary goal of college used to about gaining new knowledge and becoming a better member of society. However,
The student loan "debt has passed $1 trillion... Nearly 20 percent are in default on their student loans" in the United States. Many schools and jobs encourage students to further on their educations but how could students keep up with the total cost of college? Ironically, a strong educated workforce is what will help maintain America in shape but college prices have been going nowhere but up. This can create a strong effect on many of the younger students thinking about attending college, "today 's teenagers might be experiencing more and more "financial anxiety" and aversion to debt than previous generations."(Jake
Over the years the college national debt has grown to an enormous size, with Americans footing the bill of 1.3 trillion in outstanding college loans, according to the “St. Louis Federal Reserve”, from New Hampshire to Iowa, and across the nation, voters think students must be able to graduate from college without debt. (Frizell, 2015)
The higher education system (or lack thereof) is not serving the country and its citizens. The increasing number of admission standards, exponential tuition increases, the financing of the cost through loans, and the boasting of turning students away all contribute to rising disparity between the quality of education that upper class families can afford compared to lower and middle income families. The rising costs of higher education in this country are problematic in that they fuel a disparity between economic classes. Capitulating the problem is the amount of debt college graduates have accrued at the time of graduation. The Institute for College Access and Success (2013) reported that 70% of graduates had and average of $29,400 of debt. This number primarily focuses on non-profit and private institutions. The average annual salary of a college graduate is $57,616 (United States Department of Labor, 2014). So many college graduates have accumulated a debt worth half of what their starting salary may end up being. The Institute for College Access and Success (2013) reported that 20% of that debt “is comprised of private loans, which are typically more costly and provide fewer consumer protections and repayment options than safer federal loans3” (p. 1). This is an oversimplification in that it is looking at a very general population. Based on the degree and the subsequent employment, income will vary as does the institution attended and the student’s economic status affect the overall individual debt.
College tuition has a bad name to it, and for a good reason. More students and paying parents are feeling defeated attempting to pay off loans that typically hang over a students head for a good amount of years after finishing their education and getting their degrees. While the government has attempted to try chip away at the $1.2 trillion debt that has accumulated for college students around the United States, they are no where near having a permanent solution that lets graduates get on with their life without struggling. There are a spectrum of problems that create this debt, and only a few solutions that match up with these problems.
Today in the United States two thirds of graduating students leave colleges and universities with student debt. The Institute for College Access and Success began an initiative called “the Project on Student Debt” to estimate just how much student debt has been accumulating over the years. What they found was that the average student will graduate with $26,000 in debt and in more extreme cases, over $100,000 dollars in unpaid loans. These numbers have serious underlying implications, not only for student borrowers and their lenders but rather the entire national economy. With more than a quarter million graduating students every year, the national student debt has amassed to over $1.2 trillion dollars – or about 6 percent of the country’s total debt, and twice the size from 2007. While Americans already struggle to pay credit card and auto loan debts, the national student loan debt is larger than both, second only to mortgage loan debt. Those burdened by unpaid loans aren’t the only ones affected however, business owners, corporations and employees alike will be touched by the stresses a huge debt can put on an economy. As unpaid balances accumulate people will spend less money where they can. Consumer spending drives the economy; without it businesses will profit less, employee wages will be cut and loans will continue to go unpaid.
As a result, more and more students are turning to student loans and graduating already in debt. According to Avery and Turner (2012), the total student loan debt in June 2010 increased over $800 billion, surpassing the total credit card debt for the first time. Given the need for highly educated employees in today’s economy, the ideal funding should primarily go to education funds. More and more junior college students are finding themselves taking out loans, without considering the debt their accumulating before even transferring out into a four-year university (McKinney & Burridge,
In present 2016, with the presidential elections coming up, one of the talked about problems is student debt. The U.S. currently owes over 1 trillion dollars in student debt and it is growing by the second (Collegedebt.com). Tuition rates are over the roof and how these politicians plan to act upon them is one of the major deal breakers for this election. Yet as tuition rates keep on soaring, people are questioning, how and when did it become this bad? The answer is simply three factors: The Great Recession, Privatization, and lastly the need for higher education.
Martin and Lehren’s article “A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College” addresses the issue faced by current and former college students dealing with large amounts of debts due to student loans. The article presents the reader with stories of former college students who have either graduated or dropped out, and their struggle to pay off their student loans. The article also talks about issues such as students not being informed about high amounts of student loans and why student debts have increased. Martin and Lehren also make the issue of student debt more intimidating by giving examples
Today two thirds of college students need to take out loans to pay their tuition. Inflation on college tuition has more t...
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 on the government to forgive their student loan debts so that through their spending the slowly recovering economy can finally return to its pre-2008 strength.
Over the last few decades, college tuitions and fees have increased by over one thousand percent, surpassing every category associated with the cost of living including food and medical. This unprecedented rise in cost has resulted in an avalanche of issues for young and middle-age adults. As, a result of steep student loan amounts, graduates are being forced to move back with their parents, fewer young people are becoming homeowners, they are delaying retirement saving, and are dropping out of college at an alarming rate of nearly fifty percent. With all the controversy surrounding the topic of increasing college cost, the revised income-driven repayment program has been created to help borrowers pay back student loans according to their income.
Children of the twenty first century spend nearly 13 years in school, preparing for what is college, one of the only ways to achieve the so-called “American Dream”. College is the best way to start an advanced career and go further than one possibly could if college degrees were not available, allowing people to achieve their view of the American Dream; whether it be large houses, shiny cars, multiple kids, or financial comfort, college is the stepping stone to achieve the American Dream. But all great things come with a price, college dragging along debt. Students who attend college struggle to find ways to pay for it, leading to applying for student loans. These loans a great short term, paying for the schooling at the moment but eventually the money adds up
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.