Student Debt In America Case Study

According to the NY Times, there is currently over $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt in the United States and the borrowing continues to grow. According to the US Department of Education, from 1992 to 2007 the number of college grads who borrowed money to get their degree rose from 45 percent to almost 70 percent – and those numbers don't include those who borrowed from family members. In 2011, the average amount owed was $23,300,

It is not a secret that the cost of higher learning never comes cheap. As many students coming out of high school rely on student loans to pay for their post-secondary education, they do not realize how difficult paying off an average Canadian graduate debt load would be. According to business financial, the average payback for student debt takes approximately 14 years however, for some people it may be less than five years after the student graduates.

“Those who earned a bachelors degree in 2011 graduated with an average of $26,000 in debt” (Economist). This is an alarming statistic for me, considering that “the debt per student has doubled in the past 15 years,” so that figure doesn’t seem to be going down any time soon (Economist). I believe that this student loan debt crisis is something that should be resolved with the utmost time-efficacy in Washington. Increasing Pell grants is a great start, but more needs to be done to truly fix the crisis.

The increasing cost of higher education in the United States has been a continuing topic for debate in recent decades. American society emphasizes the importance of education after high school, yet the cost of undergraduate and advanced degrees continually rises at a greater rate than inflation. According to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, cost factors prevent 48% of college-qualified high school graduates from pursuing further education (McKeon, 2004, p. 45). The current system requires the majority of students to accumulate extensive debt with the expectation that they gain lucrative post-graduate employment to repay their loans.

This begs the question: What does the amount other people owe have to do with the rest of the country? Many Americans take the stance that it is not their issue, the reality, however, is that this is an issue that affects everyone. Currently over eight million federal student loan borrowers are mired in default, which means they have failed to repay their loan in terms agreed (Altman, Edwards,& Thompson, 2015). Those mired in default face long-term, severe, financial consequences. Those who do not default on their loans face consequences, as well; repaying loans is financially straining and people are struggling to start a family, obtain property or a home, start a company of their own, or plan their retirement (Altman, Edwards, & Thompson,

4DelgadoFig. 1. The graph illustrates the average debt per borrower in each year’s graduatingclass. Source: Mark Kantrowitz analysis of National Center for Education Statistics dataFig.2. The graph illustrates the Student loan debt has surpassed both credit card and Auto debt.

The first of Ladson- Billings’ reasons for addressing the education debt is its impact on our present education progress. The possibility of the US losing its position as a top world leader in the near future exists solely because of the poor educational system. Unfortunately, no matter how much is done to repair the damages within schooling, nothing will change until the education debt is managed. She argues that although “relational trust” is a “…key component of school reform” (Ladson-Billings, 2006, p.9), the greatness of the debt wears away at that very trust and signifies how much teachers pay yearly as opposed to investing in helping their students.

As the nation with the most expensive system of higher education in the developed world, not only do students in the USA borrow much more substantial amounts of money to meet escalating college costs, the USA is in fact the only country on the planet where their combined student debt - altogether equaling between $902 billion and -$1.2 trillion - outpaces all other types of consumer debt (“College Debt Crisis,” 2013).

The most obvious, surfaced problem with student debt is the massive quantity of debt. The new milestone of the United States student debt is 1.2 trillion dollars which the US is still continuing to cross. From 2008 to 2012 debt have increased 6% each year. An even closer look, individually students have an average of 29,400 dollars per borrower. This data is staggering and completely unbelievable. These students are defaulting on their debt and threatening their ability to access their future credit. There are many things that could be done to improve the government-run student-lending process that is there to help out every misled student trying to find higher education at colleges that will fit them well.

There is no escaping the fact that the cost of college tuition continues to rise in the United States each year. To make it worse, having a college degree is no longer an option, but a requirement in today’s society. According to data gathered by the College Board, total costs at public four-year institutions rose more rapidly between 2003-04 and 2013-14 than they did during either of the two preceding decades (Collegeboard.com). Students are pressured to continue into higher education but yet, the increasing costs of books and tuition make us think about twice. Sometimes, some of these students have to leave with their education partially finished, leaving them with crushing debts. It is important to find the means to prevent these

Additionally, repayment requirements for students loans are criticized for being more onerous than mortgage or car loan repayment requirements. Marcia Clemmitt compares, “For example, it is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for students pleading hardship to delay repayment or have loans forgiven through bankruptcy — even though consumer borrowers can declare insolvency and wipe their debt slate clean” (n.pag.). In June of 2010, student debt rose to $830 billion dollars, the first time in history to surpass credit card debt. In the 2010-2011 academic year, student loans surpassed 100 billion dollars, another historical

“In 2016 the total outstanding student loan debt in the U.S was $1.2 trillion dollars, that’s the second highest level of consumer debt behind mortgages; the debt owe to the federal government is $40 million”; According to Market Watch. “70 percent of the students, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2015, were in debt; the average student debt exceeding over $35,051; that’s the most in history”. According to Edvisors.

Student loan debt the second behind mortgage debt, there are more than 44 million borrowers with $1.3 trillion in the US. There are more than 415,400 people with with over 200,000 dollars in student loans. New hampshire has the highest average in student loan debt and Utah has the lowest.

Nearly thirty-nine million people residing in the United States hold student debt, coming to approximately $1 billion. Naturally, other forms of consumer credit declined in the recent years, most notable during the recession, and non-surprisingly, student debt continued to rise. Due to this, student loans are now, next to mortgages, the largest source of debt, outstripping credit cards and auto loans.

College tuitions in American is too expansive for the young adult who has the potential to be successful in our community. Many people were not able to attend college due to financial issues. College tuitions can go over $100,000 for a four-year college. In result, they find part time jobs to pay their tuitions and spend extra time in college for total of six through seven years instead of four years to achieve their bachelor degree. In addition, many college students take loans and had to pay over $30,000 of debt after attending college (Lobosco). It’s upsetting to see people especially young adults to get accept to an excellent college but unable to afford it.