The Urgent Issue of Student Loan Crisis in America

The student loan crisis is the biggest issue effecting young adults in America. Many economists are suggesting that it may be the most devastating economic since the recession during the President Bush administration. A smaller segment of economists are concerned that the economic downside of the student loan debt may be even greater than The Great Depression. When you look at the way that the economic situation surrounding the crazy costs of college it makes it pretty apparent that something must be done before we see the economic debilitation of the next generations of innovators. Often times when looking at a situation like this people think “Hey, they made the decision to go to college and knew how much it would cost them.” When you hear something like that it can only make you think of all the decisions in one’s own life that would cause for someone to wish they had not made the choice.

The argument this essay is looking to make is that the student loan crisis in America must be addressed in a timely fashion. Even though many folks would say that you cannot be bailed out for the mistakes you made. My response to that is that these folks are not looking to be bailed out, but instead are looking to be given a fair choice about the direction that their life at 18 year old gets to go in.

One of the biggest issues with the student loan crisis is simply some of the shocking statics that come along with the ugly truths of it. When one looks at the shear dollar amounts that just one student has to pay in debt after college then the overall numbers are going to completely take you back. Forbes even goes on to argue that “The latest student loan debt statistics for 2019 show how serious the student loan debt crisis has become for borrowers across all demographics and age groups. There are 45 million borrowers who collectively owe more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category – behind only mortgage debt – and higher than both credit cards and auto loans. Borrowers in the Class of 2017, on average, owe $28,650, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.” The dollar amount that is mentioned there is staggering. To think that before you even get to begin you career that one would be allowed to accrue close to 30,000 dollars in debt. This being before you get a car, a house, or anything else outside of a college degree that would empower you to only get; but maintain a status of consistent employment.

This is an issue that is going to affect the wealth that exists 30 years from today when the 20 years olds of today grow up and reach the stage where the generations of today reach financial maturity. Grossly shocking data from statistical research that was done by Forbes goes out of their way to say that “The largest concentration of student loan borrowers is under 30-years-old, followed by the 30-39 age group. Therefore, there are 29.1 million student loan borrowers under the age of 39, with this group representing approximately 65% of all student loan borrowers. As of 2017, here is the breakdown of student loan borrowers by age: < 30-years-old: 16.8 million; 30-39: 12.3 million; 40-49: 7.3 million; 50-59: 5.2 million; and 60+: 3.2 million”.

These statistics are staggering when you look at just how disproportionate the amount of debt that exists when taking the time to look at the debt based on the age ranges. It would make many wonder is college even worth the cost of the degree. Especially when that means you must forgo much of your financial freedom through your 20s and possibly into your late 30s depending on how much debt you have accrued and how often you were making payments on those loans.

There are even anecdotal stories of families who did everything that society told them to do to be successful and are still struggling to make it from one paycheck to the next paycheck. Elise Kight is a hard working mother who had her student loan debt story published by studentloandebtcrisis.org “He is a Physician’s Assistant and I’m a career nanny with a degree in Communication Disorders. We don’t believe everything in life should be handed to you on a silver platter. I was raised by my grandmother who taught me the value of saving money. She struggled through the Great Depression and instilled in me the value of hard work. Even with our combined income of over 100,000.00 dollars we struggle to make ends meet. We are currently renting a house because we can’t afford to buy. We never be able to afford to buy a home. I’m inventive so I am trying to work out ways to make money on the side but we could use a break. It’s exhausting keeping up with life and we feel deceived by student loan companies. We were making uninformed choices at 18 years old about BIG financial decisions. We were taken advantage of.”

Stories like this are the epidemy of what student loan debt is doing to hard working people in this country who pay taxes to help the government do its job, but when they needed help being able to do their part the government decided to put them in debt.