College Debt Is Crushing a Generation of Students Essay

Over the past decade, it has become evident to the students of the United States that in order to attain a well paying job they must seek a higher education. The higher education, usually a college or university, is practically required in order to succeed. To be able to attend these schools and receive a degree in a specific field it means money, and often a lot of it. For students, the need for a degree is strong, but the cost of going to college may stand in the way of a successful future. Each year the expense of college rises, resulting in the need for students to take out loans. Many students expect to immediately get a job after graduation, however, in more recent years the chances for college graduates to get a well paying job†¦show more content†¦Andrew Ross, wrote in his article, Mortgaging the Future: Student Debt in the Age of Austerity†, that the average student debt as of 2012 was over $27,000 (Ross 24). This continual debt deters graduates from pursuing future life events, such as buying a home or a car because they cannot afford to pay for both a home and their student loans. Joseph Stiglitz referred to the percent’s produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, â€Å"almost 13 percent of student-loan borrowers of all ages owe more than $50,000, and nearly 4 percent owe more than $100,000† in his article, Student Debt and the Crushing of the American Dream (Stiglitz 1). This debt that is created can only be the result of one thing, extremely high costs to receive a higher education. The country has made it nearly impossible for students to get a job without a degree, and colleges have made it nearly impossible to survive after graduation because of on going loans. The amount of debt that is owed by students will continue to become higher if nothing is done to stop the increase of tuition costs. Not only does the increasing cost of attending college affect a student, but unemployment rates also cause the student’s debt to continue longer than it should. Recently the unemployment rate in America has gone up dramatically, due to the economy crash. As of January 2008, the unemployment rate started increasing, starting at 5% unemployment, and in 2010, the unemployment rate was up to 9.8% (â€Å"Database†).Show MoreRelatedGraduation Speech : High School1250 Words   |  5 Pagespercentage of high school graduates going to college after high school rises. But as the number of students increases, so does college tuition. In 2013-14 there was a 9% rise in CSU tuition with the average rise being 7% a year. As College prices rise, more student loans are withdrawn to help pay for increased tuition. Student debt isn’t like credit card debt or medical bills or a mortgage, where if you declare bankruptcy all your debt will be forgiven. 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