Dear President Trump:

Congrats on becoming president of the United States of America! Now that your president you are going to have to deal with huge issues concerning the country such as terrorism, debt, and abortion. One issue that means a lot to me is the state of the education system in America, focusing primarily on that of getting into college. You see, college is important in today’s workforce. Employers are looking for people with degrees more often than at people without them. The sad part of this is that many students pay large sums of money often taking student loans leading to some not being able to handle the debt that stems from it. The ability to pay for college through student loans is a big issue in today’s world that needs to be changed to better fit the needs of the student.

Exactly how much do you think in-state colleges cost to a student? The out-of-state ones? These are the questions that students think about when looking at the prices of colleges. Right now I am looking at colleges, and my top pick is in my home state, while the other is out of state. Both are high-ranking schools, with hefty tuition costs. With the difference in price between the two being around $20,000, how am I, a prospective college, student supposed to pay for college right out of high school? The best option is scholarships. Sometimes they don’t pay the full amount of tuition but only a small percentage that leads another $14,000 difference between the two schools. The only way I would be able to afford this is to take a student loan. Taking a loan this big would be horrible for future, paycheck-receiving me. These are thoughts going through every student who is looking to attend college. I am not the only one with this issue.

The average debt accumulated among college students during 2011 -2012 school year is $26,000 (Akers and Chingos). If you take into account the average income of a recently graduated student, which is estimated to be by NACE $50,651, and compare it with the average cost of living expenses, which is $20,194, you get a nice total of $30,457 to live with until you pay the debt out fully including interest, which former President Obama lowered to 4.66% (Cost of Living). Student debt amounts to $1.2 trillion of the nation’s $19 trillion debt (National Debt). That $1.2 trillion dollars should not be there.

However, some experts believe that the student debt is not a problem. Their reasoning is that the income that college graduates normally receive is more than enough to cover costs. If it’s not, then it is recommended to get rid of things that are not needed like, your phone or car. Would you or your child want to get rid of some entertainment device or activity just pay off a debt you needed to take in order to get a job? Another thing horrible about the student debt is that the country makes over $127 billion in profit from the interest gained (Schmidlin). Should the money gained be put to helping students afford college instead of helping them worry about paying for college?

A college student should not be worried about paying back a debt for the first few and important years after graduation. Instead they should be looking to get a job and trying to start to live independently and productively as a citizen. That is why the student debt should be handled in a more efficient way other than former President Obama’s lowering of the interest rate from 6.8% to 4.66%. Instead there should be government funded grants that students apply for where the government can help pay for a college that meets a certain set of standards. This way you don’t have students apply for the grant and then use the money for the community college. The student loan system needs to be addressed in order for American college students to get the education they need and deserve without any worry of debt in their future.

Sincerely,

Logan Sullivan

Bibliography

Akers, Beth, and Mathew M. Chingos. "Increased Student Loan Debt Is Not a Big Deal." Student Loans, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2016. At issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&currPage=&scanId=&query=&source=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&u=lafa43079&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010794221&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=true. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016.

"Average Starting Salary for Class of 2015 Climbs 5.2 Percent." NACE - National Association of Colleges and Employers, 18 Nov. 2015, www.naceweb.org/s11182015/starting-salary-class-2015.aspx. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016.

"Cost of Living." Open Source Ecology, 26 Sept. 2015, opensourceecology.org/wiki/Cost_of_Living. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016.

"National Debt of the United States." NationalDebtClocks.org, www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/unitedstates. Accessed 15 Nov. 2016.

Schmidlin, Kyle. "Students Should Refuse to Pay Back Student Loans in Protest." Student Loans, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2016. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=false&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&currPage=&scanId=&query=&source=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&u=lafa43079&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010794228&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016.