Final Essay

Leus 1

Eugene Leus

Professor Ms. Williams

English 1A

22 December 2013

Student Loans

            Student loans have ruined thousands of student’s college careers and people who use student loans are being compared to slaves when paying off their student loans. An average of college graduates have a debt of $24,000 and these student need to pay it off or they have to face the consequences. The total student loan debt is at $1 trillion and there is no solution to cut down the debt yet. Students who also use student loans need to learn how to use it wisely and not to take advantage of all that money. I will be discussing about how student loans are ruining college careers and how students should spend the money they get from the student loans and financial aid.

            Student loans are keeping us down because people know they have to pay an enormous amount of money back eventually after they graduate. After students graduate they struggle to find jobs because there isn’t enough jobs in America since the recent recession hit America. Many jobs have been outsourced to different countries where they can pay the people over there cheaper wages. Finding a job is may be very difficult after graduating since jobs are becoming very abundant in America and you have to compete against all the other graduates for that job. People who have all this student loan debt can’t find jobs and it isn’t fair to them that they also need to payback all of that debt. If the tuition is going to be so expensive then there should be enough jobs for students who just graduated so they can pay back all that debt.

            The companies who offer student loans and debt aren’t only keeping us down, but it is also ruining the American dream people have and their lives. People want to be able to achieve their other goals when graduating from college and want to start their lives, but the only thing that can be holding them back from all of that is debt from student loans. It may take years to pay back all of the money student loans gave to people for the expensive tuition and overpriced books that should be way cheaper today. For example, in the documentary College Conspiracy the Dental Hygienist was over $100,000 in debt and the company told her she actually owes $300,000. It’s ridiculous that people have to pay this amount of money back after they have graduated and found a job. People are forced and pressured to find a job because if they don’t pay the money back it’ll basically ruin their lives. A quote from the book The Rich and the Rest of Us stated, “For one very rich man, there must be at least five hundred poor”(98). This can also be referring to the student loan companies and how much people they put in debt each year. It’s outrageous on how many people who go to college in America are in debt today.

There are also students who take advantage of student loans and don’t even use it for their education. These types of students use their student loans to buy a car or to furnish their homes and other things they can’t usually afford. Thecompanies who offer student loans should make sure the students strictly use the money for their education and not for other items. People who don’t use the moneyfor their education are even putting themselves in more debt because they still need to pay for their tuition and books. There’s other people who can put it to use more wisely, but in reality these companies don’t care what they do with all of the money because they have to pay it all back with interest just like a business. In my opinion the companies who offer student loans make sure people go into debt so those companies can make even more money.

College tuition is getting more expensive each year and students need help to pay for their college education so they look to student loans or financial aid to help pay for their tuition. Students need to be more educated on student loans and how much they should take from them. Grants and financial aid are very helpful, but since tuition is so expensive student loans is a must. An alternative way of making money for tuition is to find a part-time job where you can have some income, which can help you pay for books, housing, and other needs. Students need to know student loans aren’t the only place where you can get money to pay for their tuition. I think student loans should be your last resort because of all the debt students gets into after they graduate. Another quote from The Rich and the Rest of US stated, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak”(102). Students need to speak up and tell their colleges that tuition is becoming more expensive each year and how are others who can’t afford college go to school. Its not fair to people who can barely afford college because people work so hard in high school just to go to college.

Colleges need to realize that tuition is too expensive and it’s becoming unaffordable to many students and it is crushing their dream of graduating from

college and finding a nice job. It is unfair to people that they are already in debt when they graduate, they should be celebrating and not be stressing about finding a job right away. Colleges need to find another way to afford college besides using grants, financial aid, and student loans as an option because it’s not enough to pay for peoples whole college career.