College educations are getting more expensive every year. While pursuing further education is a great way to mature intellectually and open paths into a variety of career choices, it is becoming somewhat of a trouble for some families to pay for a college degree. A way to help these less fortunate families has been around for many years now, known as student loans. This program was implemented to create a way for students to get money to pay for college now, and be able to pay the money back with interest after obtaining a career in the field of their choice. Although this was intended to make things easier on students, it has turned out to have an overall negative effect. Countless students are faced with a cumbersome debt after graduation, and with the increasing interest rates, this burden is not being eased at all (Frizell) In fact, to say that student loans have caused more harm to college graduates than benefit over the years is not necessarily an incorrect statement. At this point in time, it is evident and necessary that current and potential college students need not rely on student loans entirely, so that they may save themselves from a lifetime of debt. Student loans are clearly more harmful to college students, and thus should be replaced by a better-reformed version or alternative program to help make a college education affordable and alleviate the debt that students graduate with.
Students who have taken out loans have suffered dearly throughout their lives after graduating, and there is incontrovertible evidence to back this claim up. Many students are so deep in debt that they only feel secure by remaining in school. One student admits “The only way I feel I can survive financially is by going back to ...
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... more affordable and revive some aspects of the economy.
This counterclaim made by conservatives against a new college assistance program is completely ill conceived. Cutting funding to Pell Grants would be foolish, “Because the recipients largely come from traditionally underserved communities,” which matches the purpose of student loans, but without requiring the students pay the money back years later with extremely high interest rates (Garofalo). Pell Grants are not only about helping families in need pay for college, but “It's also about the country's economic competitiveness, which depends on having a highly educated, 21st century workforce” (Garofalo). The conservative’s push to reduce the supply of Pell Grants would have the opposite effect and would sacrifice America's long-term economic strength on the altar of short-term deficit reduction (Garofalo).
Martin and Lehren’s article “A Generation Hounded by the Soaring Cost of College” addresses the issue faced by current and former college students dealing with large amounts of debt 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 of high amounts of student loans students have had. The article gives a very hard reality check to anyone reading as to how bad the problem of student debt is.
The idea of freedom and equal opportunity that America was built on has sadly been lost and replaced with a system of quality education only being accessible by the wealthy. In-state college tuition should be free for all students meeting admission requirements, allowing students from the full spectrum of economic backgrounds to have the same opportunity to receive the same education. The incidence of poverty in the U.S. is directly linked to educational level. When a college degree is earned, income levels rise (College Board). The best use of federal government anti-poverty funds is not another welfare or assistance program; it is to make college education affordable for everyone.
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
Mark Kantrowitz indicates in his article, Why the Student Loan Crisis Is Even Worse Than People Think, that “Student loan debt is increasing because government grants and support for postsecondary education have failed to keep pace with increases in college costs”(Why 1). This means that the government no longer covers for college tuition fees. College graduates are 20% more likely to work at a job that is outside of their major by the debt they are in. Kantrowitz also mentions that “students who borrow to attend college, it appears that more than a quarter (27.2%) of them are graduating with excessive debt” (Why 1). In reality, leads to student saying that the financial cost was worthless, ending up with a job that is especially not what they went to school
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.
In today’s society, the cost to attend college to earn a degree continues to increase, which results in an increase of students needing financial aid. A determining factor of how much a student receives is dictated by the Earned Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is mandated by Congress as a part of the required Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that every student must fill out in order to apply to college. Steve Cohen, an Op-Ed Contributor to the New York Times and author of “A Quick Way to Cut College Costs” believes that the EFC is flawed in that it does not accurately depict how much a family can contribute to the cost of a student’s education. Cohen’s solution is for Congress and the President to drastically cut the EFC to realistically reflect on the unequal rising of college tuition and average household income. Cohen is very effective in utilizing his research to appeal to readers. The statistics and figures he utilizes make it easier to understand his point.
In the words of Claiborne Pell, U.S. Senator of Rhode Island and sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid to American college students, “The strength of the United States is not the gold at Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction that we have, but the sum total of the education and the character of our people.” These words speak of the importance of education and the need for public support in order to continue America’s tradition of investment in our youth being an investment in our country.
It is a norm and expectation in society today for students to pursue higher education after graduating from high school. College tuition is on the rise, and a lot of students have difficulty paying for their tuitions. To pay for their tuitions, most students have to take out loans and at the end of four years, those students end up in debt. Student loan debts are at an all time high with so many people graduating from college, and having difficulties finding jobs in their career fields, so they have difficulties paying off their student loans and, they also don’t have a full understanding of the term of the loans and their options if they are unable to repay.
For most young Americans, college has always been preached to them as being a vital part to their success in the adult world; but as they reach this educational rite of passage many find they must take out inflated loans, work part time jobs, or even become dissuaded entirely due to the exorbitant costs of higher education. We must forsake this current antiquated system in favor of government-subsidized tuition. Therefore, college education must be free because of its benefits to the economy, creation of equal opportunity, and the resolution of the student loan crisis. The first ever federal government-backed student loan program began in the 1950s under the National Defense Act (Sourmaidis). This was primarily offered as an incentive for students to pursue math and science degrees to compete with Soviet Russia after the launch of the Sputnik satellite (Sourmaidis).
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.
Higher education costs have been increasing at a rapid pace, faster than inflation for the economy as a whole, for the past fifty years. It started in the 1960’s when the federal government passed the Higher Education Act to increase the amount of people able to afford and attend college. Regardless of the Unites States Government efforts to increase the affordability of college, federal aid programs have not risen to expectations due to the ever-increasing college prices. To lower the price of college, the government needs to cut back on student financial spending to go only to the lowest income families and create tax incentives for families to start saving up on their own.
Increasing college costs has proven to be a major issue for those who pursue higher learning. With institutions raising tuition and fees, students are forced to make life-altering sacrifices to repay soaring student loans. We have come to a pivotal place in history, where individuals have no choice but to minimize or delay important life decision’s such as moving home with their parents to save money, becoming home owners, retirement saving and forfeiting higher education. The impact of increasing college costs has become so severe that it is at the forefront of politicians, political agenda, inducing conversation and policies like the revised income-driven repayment program. The program proposed to help combat the effects of massive student loans.
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.
As colleges’ funds dry up, colleges must turn to the public to further support higher education. By raising state taxes, colleges can collect funds to help improve the school’s budgets. The state provides funds from the taxes for colleges to receive a certain amount for each student currently enrolled. All community and traditional four year colleges collect these funds in order to maintain the school’s budget. As reporter, Eric Kelderman states, “less than a third of colleges’ budget is based from state taxes”. The school’s budget is how colleges are able to provide academic support programs, an affordable intuition, and hire more counselors. Colleges must now depend on state taxes more than ever for public colleges. Without collecting more funds from state taxes, as author, Scott Carlson explains how Mr. Poshard explains to senators “our public universities are moving quickly toward becoming private universities…affordable only to those who have the economic wherewithal to them” (qtd. in.) Public colleges must be affordable to anyone who wishes to attend. If colleges lack to provide this to students, it can affect dropouts, a student’s ability focus, and cause stress. The problem of lack of funding is that colleges have insufficient funds. Therefore, the best possible solution for the problem of lack of funding would be increasing and collecting more funds from state taxes.
Fees and loans are too big of a load for young people to carry. A lot of students drop out do to the pressure of having to worry about all the loans they have to pay back after they are done with college. This should not be an issue to the student. According Iatham Emmmons, “Even worse, a large portion of students never receive funding at all due to the multitude of stipulations that must be adhered to in order to qualify for assistance. A major flaw in the current federal educational assistance programs is that the students’ parents’ income is used to calculate financial need” (Emmons 3). Even citizens who try to get help by applying for funding never end up getting it because they do not meet the needs required for the funding. Education should be p...