Anthony Marquez
Professor Williams
21 December, 2013
Student Loans and How they keep us down
Four years, at the least, is how long it takes your average student to graduate from college. Thats four years of tireless nights, gallons of consumed coffee, and hours on end spent in the library studying. This is the life of a college student. Their days are spent overworking themselves emotionally and physically, and all for what? Those who graduate receive their degree but for many of these graduates this degree comes with a heavy price. For many of these students their grand prize for all of their hard work is a big fat student loan. Many are surprised at what awaits them the day after graduation. Thousands of dollars hovering over their heads, weighing them down and stopping them from investing in anything financially. The average college student leaves college owing $24,000 in loans (Rose). These student loans are binding college graduates to the United States economic system and many are never able to pay off their debts. They destroy any chance they have to live a debt free life. Through reading the book “The Rich and the Rest of Us” and the watching the documentary “College Conspiracies” the evidence of this growing problem is overwhelming. Student loans not only cause stress from the pressure of finding a job they also prolong the process of them living the “american dream” the main reason why many of these students went to college in the first place. This growing problem can be stopped, all it takes is for we the people of the United States to stand up for what is right. Without a doubt student loans are inevitably keeping us down.
One of the main problems for graduates who owe student loans is the stress that it brings upon them. The average college tuition is about $27,000 dollars per year (Rose). The high cost of going to college is almost impossible for students to pay off right away. Unless the students families have saved their whole life for them to go to school, students are basically forced to invest in loans given federally or from private banks. An example would be from the documentary “College Conspiracies” when they talk about the different loans that students can get. Private loans from banks and federal loans the State that they can also receive. These loans do help you get through college and provide the necessary funds to pay off school but once school is out that’s when you need to pay off the loans and interest rates kick in. An average interest rate on loans go at about a rate of 6.8% which gradually increases the amount of money that you owe over the time you are paying back your loans. These high interest rates cause over whelming stress to pay off your loans as quickly as possible. If they do not pay them off within a certain amount of time, they will be trapped in a hole of debt, feeling as if there is no way out. The only way to pay off their loans quickly is to get a job. This is where stress from loans is taken to a whole new level.
With our economy in the middle of a recession, finding a job has proven for many to be an impossible task. The unemployment rate is incredibly high in the United States at a whopping “7.3% as of October 2013” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). As stated in the video, waitressing jobs that once were taken by high school graduates are now being taken over by college graduates. Not only are these college graduates working and doing jobs that anyone without a degree can do they also have thousands of dollars of loans hovering over their heads to pay off. These are considered to be the lucky college graduates. Many students graduate from college with their degrees and when they enter the real world in search of a job, they find nothing. In fact in the book “The rich and the rest of us” by travis smiley and cornel west he interviewed a woman who stated “I have a marketing degree. Ive been unemployed for three years” (Smiley and West). Even with her so called “valuable” degree, she could not find a job. Not even a waitressing job. This woman is one of many who are battling the same fight. They went through college with the notion that when they left with their degree in hand any job would be waiting for them. Little to their surprise jobs were not waiting for them and many are still in search of a job decades after they left college. As these loans sit and are not paid off their high interest rates cause the amount owed to sky rocket every year adding more and more stress to the loan owner. The heavy burden of these loans only continue to bring the college graduate down.
When many of these college graduates applied for their loan they had one thing in mind; the “american dream”. Their whole life they were told that if they worked hard and went to college the end result would be a good job, a beautiful house and a happy ending. Visions of this white picket fence drove these desperate students to sign for these loans. Many figured that they would be able to pay them off within a year. Not knowing the limitations that these loans would bring. Because these students leave college owing so much money their american dream must be put on hold. They can’t spend money or reward them selves with a new car or house after graduation because they already owe money to a bank or the government. According to the video, school debts are “becoming the new house payments” (Rose). In prior times americans had little stress about school loans and were able to invest their money into their dream home. Loans and their interest rates are so high today that they are equivalent to a down payment of a house. The process of buying a home is prolonged because these students need to accumulate the money for two down payments, one to pay the loan off and the other for the down payment of their actual home. Luxuries such as cars, electronics, kids, etc. are seemingly unattainable. The monthly payments of the loans are so high that it makes payments for luxuries or homes seem like nearly impossible to afford. All of these things are a factor in the american dreams but because of high monthly payments in loans the process of obtaining them is prolonged for many years, if not decades.
Though student debt is holding a lot of college graduates back from living the life they have always dreamed of, there is a solution to their stress. In the book “The Rich and the Rest of Us” there is a very powerful saying, “In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme. --Aristotle”(Smiley and West). As Aristotle gracefully put it, the poor must stand up against the rich. The rich are more prone to pay off their debts easier and quicker. As for the poor, payments of a student loan become financial burdens. As a nation we must fight for what is right. Education is a right not a privilege and should be given to us at an affordable price. Our extended education should not empty our pockets but support them. We have a right to be educated but not at the cost of living our lives in a world of debt. We should not be suppressed by the stress brought on by student loans and the american dream should be attainable to all. If we were to stand up as “One” we could fight peacefully for what is rightfully ours. We can strive for a cheaper and maybe even free education. The American Dream should never just be a dream. It should be a reality that Americans work hard, achieve their goals and not be held back because of large amounts of debt that they owe from their schooling. We need to use our voice to protest around campuses throughout America to promote awareness of the stress and limitations caused by student loans.
In conclusion, loans are binding students to a life of stress and limitations. Debts colleges are leaving the students with are keeping them down and are extending the timeframe it will take for them to live a comfortable and stable life. The shortage of jobs in our country is perhaps the biggest stressor brought upon students with loans. Without a good job right out of college, the amount of money owed by the former student only accumulates. Even with a job the monthly payments of the loans hold the student back from obtaining their “american dream”. It is important that as a nation we come together to fight for a cheaper education, particularly loan free. If we all came together as one to fight for the right to a loan free education our overall net happiness as a country may be at an all time high. The question is if your not in college, or never went to college would you join your fellow Americans and fight for a cheaper education? Or would you sit back and not do a thing because it doesn’t apply to you? The choices you make today effect the choices of tomorrow, your future children, grandchildren and friends may suffer from the lack of action that you take today. As a first generation college student looking at the stress and limitations that my loans will bring me I can’t help but think, what if my parents stood up for this cause years ago? Would I be faced with this issue today? Would they have cared enough about the cause to speak? It is important that you choose between your present state and your future, for your actions today directly effect the future. Make it a great future or not the choice is yours.
Sources Cited
1. Smiley, Travis, and Cornel West. The Rich and the Rest of Us. New York, NY: Smiley, 2012. Print.
- Rose, Cayle. "College Conspiracy." YouTube. YouTube, 06 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.
3. "How the Government Measures Unemployment." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.
