Financing a college education has become increasingly challenging for most Americans. From tuition to housing costs, it’s a significant expense for most new graduates. And while scholarships, grants, and other financial aid can help offset the cost of a degree, student loans remain an essential part of the equation—especially since postsecondary education is now practically mandatory in order to get a decent job.
Working toward a better future means taking on significant debt in the present moment. The cost of this sacrifice is adjusting one’s lifestyle accordingly to account for loan repayments.
Today, there are some steps you can take to reduce the burden of your student loans even further. President Biden has introduced an effort to facilitate the forgiveness of student loans. However, the relief effort is facing significant backlash from opponents. Here are some of the strongest reasons why student loans should be forgiven and why the widespread backlash against student loan forgiveness is morally and intrinsically wrong.
You Can Be Stuck Paying Them For The Rest Of Your Life
Student loans can carry high-interest rates and burdensome repayment terms. The amount of interest you accrue and the length of time it takes to pay off your loan can vary based on several factors—including your loan type, your credit score, and the interest rate you get when you take out the loan.
If you have Federal student loans, the interest rate you pay depends on when you took out the loan and what type of loan it is. Federal student loans have a fixed interest rate that doesn’t change over the life of the loan. However, if you have a private student loan, the interest rate can change each year.
There’s something seriously wrong with the idea that people are raised with the idea that they absolutely must go to college as soon as possible only to be buried in debt for all of their efforts.
In countless families across the United States, the pressure to go to college is very real. Young people feel like they’ll be a failure to society and their parents if they don’t go to college which compels them to do anything to get in, including taking on predatory loans to cover tuition.
It’s An Investment
There’s an old cliché that goes: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Similarly, a degree in your hand is worth more than the possibility of a degree in the bush. Not having a college degree can severely limit your ability to get a good job. While not everyone needs a four-year degree to earn a decent living, the post-recession job market is competitive and there are many people with the right skill-set and qualifications competing for the same jobs.
Counter to the cliché, not having a college degree could end up costing you more in the long run because people with college degrees earn significantly more than people without college degrees.
When people are college-educated, the country they live in benefits from that knowledge. This country should be more than happy to take a fraction of what it spends on warfare to allocate it to something more worthwhile like the education of its citizens.
You’re Contributing To A Problem That Ruins People’s Lives
Student debt can take a mental and emotional toll on people. For some, it can be a source of anxiety. If you’re unable to make your monthly payments, you risk getting hit with a bad credit rating, wage garnishment, and asset seizures.
Others have been impacted in more extreme ways: Some people have been forced into bankruptcy by crippling student debt burdens. In the United States, student debt has reached staggering proportions.
Going to school shouldn’t put you on a path to bankruptcy, and yet that’s exactly what’s happening. Debt ruins lives and student loan debt is ruining countless lives before they even really start.
When you’re young, it’s natural to be optimistic, but that optimism withers at the vine when plagued by excessive student loan debt. Students that are buried in debt can’t progress in life at a normal rate. Their professional and financial growth is essentially stunted as many students choose to delay the purchase of their first home as a result of their debt.
Imagine having to wait until you’re 50 years old to marry anyone and buy a home. Students are finding themselves unable to achieve the same quality of life as their parents or grandparents because of the crushing weight of their debt.
Colleges and universities love to market their classes by distributing images of happy and enthusiastic young people achieving their dreams by pursuing a formal education. Those dreams are constantly shattered by the very institutions that are selling them. With Republicans rallying in opposition to student loan forgiveness, it’s important to take time to understand why student loan forgiveness is essential for moving forward as a nation.
Conclusion, There’s Something Wrong with the Cost of Education in This Country
Student loans shouldn’t be a path to financial ruin. If you already have student loans, you can take steps to reduce the amount of money you owe. If you’re about to go to college, you can explore federal student loan repayment programs that could help you pay off your debt even faster.
Alternatively, you could take more time before enrolling in college and save more money before you enroll. Most of us are taught to get into college as soon as possible like it’s our only mission in life. Although it can be advantageous to go to college as soon as possible as you’ll finish sooner and have the opportunity to find a better job, you could also find yourself buried in debt.
In conclusion, there is something seriously wrong with the way education works in this country. As a place that other nations around the world look up to, we’re setting a poor example of how education is supposed to work.
Rather than produce a nation of highly educated and productive citizens with the financial freedom to live fulfilling lives, we’re producing entire generations of financially oppressed people.
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