March 17, 2023 Student Debt and its Impact on America’s Scholars Americans currently owe a total of $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, and if we focus on an individual borrower, that person would carry an average of $30,000 in student loans. Student debt is a known issue in the university system and affects millions of students every year. As tuition increases and mortgages also rise, students have been resorting to borrowing to make their way through school. However, abusing the privilege to borrow a loan will add up over time, causing long term problems in the future. Although loans can be helpful every once in a while, it would be ideal to try to prevent borrowing. Student loans affect graduate students' income and credit worth throughout …show more content…
Many people who suffer from student debt begin to be open minded to any job they can find to save up, instead of waiting and educating themselves more to get into their dream/goal job. Borrowers who get out of college usually have a negative net worth, while non-borrowers usually have a net worth close to $0. With a negative net worth, it can show that troubles occur making large purchases and qualifying for loans are harder than those without negative net worth. (Porter). Student debt impacts the rate of homeownership, as many graduates who are borrowers begin to try to apply for a home ownership, many are declined due to low credit value (Porter). When you have a mortgage to pay and an enormous debt to pay off, it can make it very difficult for borrowers to make an investment in a house. (Porter). “While a college education still tends to increase overall career earnings by a significant amount (about $1 million more than someone with no college education), it can take a long time for graduates to come out ahead compared to people who take on no debt” (Porter). Although university increases job offers and salary, student debt takes a toll on other life essentials. Student debt becomes a chain holding the graduate back from advancing in …show more content…
Some ways to help understand the graduates' situation better is to calculate the total debt, and come up with a schedule and plan on how to pay it back when payments are due (Epstein). Identifying the interest rate and payment rules of each loan taken can help to avoid interest and fees when paying back your debt (Epstein). For graduates, considering a consultation may help to push back and lower payments for now (Epstein). “But there's really only one bad option if you are having difficulty paying your student loans: to do nothing and hope for the best. Your debt problem won't go away, but your creditworthiness will” (Epstein). Doing nothing only supports further growth of your debt and the weight added to the students back. The best way to understand how to start paying off the debt is to start with the highest loans, and work down from that. This helps keep an organized routine when paying off debt. There is no reason to procrastinate paying off loans, the graduate must take responsibility for their earlier