Currently, finding a job is becoming hard for many college graduates. Nearly 1.5 million college graduates are not employed. Most of these college graduates accumulated debt to attain a college degree. The statistic shows that over 50 million Americans are swimming in debt of about $2.5 trillion. This translates that almost one in two people are paying off student debt. The amount of debt facing Americans due to the college degree they were told they should have is the biggest issue. The government has been easily providing loans to students without considering if they have a plan of paying off the debt in the future or what are they going to school for. Obtaining a higher education is not worth accumulating debt as it makes no difference to have a college degree.
People should be educated on how to use the internet to become more knowledgeable about many things without going to college. In the 1970’s, student were able to afford college tuition without student loans by working part time jobs year around or over the summer on their time off. Accumulating debt is not worth when a student is better off without a college degree. However, a college graduate has a higher ability to make more money than a high school graduate. Earning a degree makes a college graduate develop more and better employment opportunities. People with bachelor degrees are known to earn 58% more than high school graduates while individuals with an associate’s degree earns 25% more than high school graduates over the past four decades.
Student debt is one major thing in common among college graduates. Today, 75 percent of the college students are graduating with a big amount of debts. Nearly 50 million of college graduates in America have a total of $2.5 trillion student debt. This translates that almost one in three American adults are swimming in debt. The amount of debt accumulated by the time an average student is graduating is around $38,176. This amount is enough to put down a payment on a home or buy a new car or start a lucrative business. Over the past 13 years the amount has increased by $20,000. The way Americans spends and live their lives is significantly affected by these financial burdens. According to The Federal Reserve (2017), home ownership has decreased as a result of an increase in student debt.
The increasing burden of student debt will lead to delay retirement until the age of 75 years. However, experts predict that by 2020, 70% of the jobs in America will require a significant increase in skilled workers and all jobs in the American economy will need education beyond high school (Lochner, 2016). Therefore, the students will have to hit the books and accumulate debts to meet these demands of the labor market. Although obtaining a higher education is valuable, it is worthless to accumulate debt for a college degree.
Finding a job is becoming a hard thing for many college graduates. The amount of debt the Americans are facing because of degree they were told they should require is the biggest issue. The government is issuing loans to students without even considering what are they going to pursue or if they have a plan to repay the debt in the future. On the other hand, colleges have been increasing the prices of everything from books to tuition. According to Celente (2015), it makes no difference to have a college degree and it is a wrong mentality that business and corporations cannot hire someone unless he or she possesses a college degree. It is important for individuals to have minds and think for themselves. Most young people think they can only achieve their American dream by having a degree.
High schools prepare students to get into college but they don’t expose them to other paths away from obtaining a higher education. We need high schools in our country that teaches students how to invent their own product or start a business. The students at high school level should be educated on how to use the internet to become more knowledgeable on various things even without going to college. We should be like in the 1970’s where a college student in America could afford his or her college tuition without getting financial assistance from his parents or student loans. A student was able to pay by working part-time job year around or working over the summertime on his time off. The government has destroyed this by offering easy student loans upon application. There is no credit that is required for taking the loans out.
According to Pringle (2018), the costs for four-year College tuition is $29,497 and by the time an average student is graduating, will have accumulated a total of $39,173.
Colleges, on the other hand, are offering deferments to avoid being accountable which makes students halt payments without becoming delinquent. When a student is better off without a college degree accumulating debt is not worth. The borrowers should quickly discover that American dream isn’t so dreamy. Accumulating debt is destroying the hopes of American and ruining their lives. The government should let the banks take over and compete with each other and remove itself from this. That is the only way to reduce the cost of tuition and everything. According to Celente (2015), hyperinflation is right around the corner and the college degree is even losing its value. A college could be a good thing if the government is not too greedy to handle it the way it needs to see it. It is high time for anyone seeking to obtain a higher education to determine if it is worth to accumulate debt otherwise he or she might end up being an indentured slave paying on worthless degrees and a lifetime of paying on student’s loans.
Accumulating debt for a higher education is worse if it does not lead to a gainful employment. It is worse than noxious credit card debt. If people don’t pay it off, they will stay with it for decades even into retirement. The burden of college loans to over 50 million Americans is getting worse over time. The borrowers cannot buy homes and settle down. People are getting burnt even more by a damaged credit rating when they go into default. According to Chen and Wiederspan (2016), an individual who is struggling to repay his or her debt is mostly damaged by the student loan. Penalties, fees and accumulating interests are imposed on delinquent borrowers and those who default on their loans are facing ruined credit and a debt that is always more times than their original debt balance.
However, many people believe that a higher education is a worthy investment. Tilsley (2013) argued that a college graduate has a higher ability to make more money than a high school graduate. In today’s society, there are more jobs that require college degrees. Earning a degree makes a college graduate develop more and better employment opportunities. According to Ma et al. (2014), people with bachelor degrees are known to earn 58% more than high school graduates while individuals with an associate’s degree used to earn 25% more than high school graduates over the past four decades.
People with associate degrees are likely to earn around $350,000 more than high school graduates in their lifetime. College graduates earn about $1 million more in their lifetime. A person to become a successful graduate need to have a self-discipline. Graduates tend to be healthier and live longer. Individuals with a bachelor degree have a higher annual median income than a person with only a high school degree (Hershbein & Kearney, 2014). Before the recession that was between December 2007 and July 2009, more college graduates were likely to be employed than those with an associate degree. Associate degree holders were more likely to be employed than those without any post-high school degree. Despite the challenges of student debt, earning a college degree is still one of the most reliable investments in future income and well-being.
Student debt is one major thing in common among college graduates. Accumulating debt to obtain a higher education is not worth because a degree is no longer the surest and the quickest way to a well-paid job. The burden of student loan debt has made college student question the need for a college degree. Currently, there are a high number of unemployed Americans with bachelor degrees. The amount of debt accumulated by the time an average student is graduating is enough to put down a payment on a home. People should be educated on how to use the internet to become more knowledgeable about various things even without going to college. However, earning a degree makes a college graduate develop more and better employment opportunities, have the ability to make more money and live a healthier and longer life.