The total U.S. student loan debt now surpasses $1.2 trillion and there is more than 40 million recipients owing on federal and private student loans (Malone). Most of the college students in the United States can’t afford their education by themselves and, as a result, students end up drowning in student loans in order to earn a degree. Student debt is a major problem in the US, and it is a major influence on the gap between rich and poor. A more accessible college education would help reduce the gap between rich and poor in the United States. In the last fifty years the world has gone under many changes but one that is really shocking is the escalating prices of colleges. Since 1985, the price tag in American colleges and universities has …show more content…
Most of my friends who are currently in college have between 5000$-20.000$ in federal and private loans. In many cases, besides for the loans, students have to work and study at the same time, which results in a stressful life for the student. In fact, many students are not able to finish their education because, since they can’t afford it, they have to work over their studies. Out of all the possible reasons to drop out of college, “the No. 1 reason many young adults drop out of college is an inability to juggle school and work” (Johnson). Finishing college is the most decisive forecaster of prosperity in the workforce and the inconsistency in college completion between children of rich and poor families duplicated since the late 1980s (McGlynn 55). There is many people that go to college, but because of the cost they don't get through college. The elevated costs of college cause not only students to struggle paying for college, but also to struggle financially paying for college when they are done. In many cases, after graduating, young adults who don’t find a job will become poorer, increasing the gap between the rich and the