Student Debt
Many students in the U.S. worry about money when applying to college and the debt they will have after they graduate. Colleges are becoming more expensive.
Dear President Elect,
Did you know that the total student debt has increased from $260 billion in 2004 to $1.2 trillion in 2014? That’s a lot of money. That’s about how much money the U.S. owes China. Colleges in the U.S. are becoming more expensive. As our next president, you should create programs that help pay or reduce college debts.
Colleges are expensive. According to Top Universities.com, to study in a community college it cost $16,325 and for a four year public school is $23,410. To study out of state it cost $37,229 and a private four year college costs $46,272 (topuniversity.com). This is how much it cost to study in the U.S. per year on average when tuition, room and other living expenses are added. Still, some colleges can even cost more than $100,000 per year (topuniversities.com).
Some people who have graduated spend a long time paying their college debt. The number of people who are above 50-60 year old with student debt has increased to 2.1 million and it’s over 16% of the $1.2 trillion which is 192 billion dollars (forbes.com). That’s a lot of people who are older and still paying for college. Imagine how would you feel like if you were at an age when you should be enjoying retirement and you may not have a good job because of your age and still have to pay for that college debt.
Some people may argue that there are student scholarships and grants that help to pay for college but that's not enough. Even though they may get some help they are likely to still end up with debt. Each year, $46 billion in grants and scholarship money is awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and the nation’s colleges and universities. Even though it’s 46 billion dollars not all students get scholarships or grants, 46 billion dollars is a small number compared to the total student debt which is 1.2 trillion dollars (debt.org).
As our next president, you should create programs that help pay or reduce college debts. If students graduate with big debts then they will have to focus more on paying that debt, they may be 40 years old and still be paying that debt. Students should at least graduate with a debt lower than what they are going to make in a year or graduate with no debt so they can enjoy their lives and work at the same time.
Sincerely, Jean B.