http://www.npr.org/2012/04/28/151601025/help-for-the-economy-not-from-debt-bound-grads
The link above is to an article (and an audio clip)
discussing student loan debt, a popular issue in the news lately. Students often face astronomical amounts of
debt as they leave college. Couple this truth
with the decreasing amounts of jobs available to recent college grads, and it
is undeniable that college debt is a social problem.
As a senior looking forward to graduating in three weeks
(and beginning repayment on my loans six months later) I have been thinking
more seriously about the debt that has come along with my education, and how
pricing people (especially the middle class) out of a good college education is
a terrible social problem. Higher
education should be a way for people in lower and middle classes to contribute
to society and facilitate their upward socioeconomic mobility. However, these students leaving college with
the educational tools to succeed are prevented from doing so, strapped with heavy
financial burden.
The article discusses just how much debt college students
in America have accrued. Student loan debt accounts for over $1
trillion, more than doubling in the last decade. This past Friday 4/27, Congress passed a
Republican bill that would keep interest rates on federal student loans from
doubling, keeping them at 3.4 percent.
President Obama has strongly urged Congress to keep the interest rate
from doubling and has favored access to education. Nevertheless he plans to veto it, because the
bill strips $6 billion from health care to make up for the low interest rate.
What do you think?
Should people be given the right to a quality college education without
debilitating debt? If so, what should be
done to make sure this can happen?
I think this is a major problem because we go to school for so long to get a good education because most jobs require a college degree, but then we can't find a job and we have all this debt to pay back.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think this is a HUGE problem, specifically in America. Last semester I took a class with a teacher who had taken a few years of college in Belgium or Berlin (I forgot which) but anyway, when she told the natives how much it cost for us to go to College in America they were astounded. They could not believe how much it cost for us when it was basically next to dirt cheap for them over there. I don't understand how we are supposed to go to a decent college for four years and not become completely broke. I think it is almost everyone's goal when they graduate to get a job they like and that pays well. However, it doesn't really matter how much you make for quite a while because we will be stuck paying off our immense debts from loans. Jobs like applicants who attended better schools but who can afford it these days? I think we should be given the right to a quality education without collecting such a large debt. I don't really know why these schools charge so much but costs seem to only go up year after year.
ReplyDeleteCollege debt is something that I am already worried about. And i am Only a freshmen.With out my loans I know I would not be here at Canisius so I know that it is going to be a problem for me when I graduate. You would think that college would not be so expensive because there is a huge emphasis at acheiving higher education in order to succedd yet, we are faced with a huge burden when we graduate. It is truely a shame.
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