Student loan debt has been increasing, making it hard to pay off
Places like the UK and America have schools people want to attend even without aid or scholarships to ease the way. In modern society it’s hard to come out of any school without debt weighing a graduate down.
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The Argument
The idea of an education is one that's been around for thousands of years, as far back as the ancient Egyptians. Knowledge and education has always been held in high regard and the standards increase as the world advances. Similar to how students are advancing from kindergarten all the way to university and graduate schools.
However, along with these schools comes with the cost of what it takes to attend and be allowed to learn in them. Institutions need money to run and while they do receive government aid its usually students who are paying to keep the facilities running and the professors income.
The price of running an entire campus isn't cheap though and not every student is able to qualify for aid or scholarships. This is why students take out loans and in turn acquire student loan debt.
The idea behind debt is so that the cost doesn't have to be paid in one go. The money owed can slowly be worked down over time until it can be paid off in full.[1] it's a concept of interest, both personal and economical that's been going on for millennia.
Paying off debt in increments sounds easy but it's becoming harder and harder to truly do so. Coming back to the idea of interest. Interest builds up from the original number of what someone owes if the debt isn't paid off quick enough or a certain minimum hasn't been paid. There's rare times when the interest incurring on a debt is frozen. This means that while someone might owe 10,000 and they pay off 300 they could still owe more than 9,700 because of the interest.[2]
Following this, the rate of which school costs are increasing is almost eight times faster than the increase of wages. This means that the money people make from their jobs will soon not be enough to pay for schooling.[3]
Student loan debt is becoming a slippery slope that's almost impossible to escape. Removing student loan debt would allow for students to have more freedom with their choices after school. They won't have to settle for jobs to pay off their debt but be able to flourish.
Counter arguments
As the economy rises so to do the cost of things. Not just the typical living expenses but things like schooling. Loans seem to have become a necessity to be able to put oneself through school. At this point it's a vital thing that not only allows opportunities for the students to get a better schooling but allows for aid to continue a cycle of give and receive.
It's pretty much fact that no one enjoys being in debt or wants to be in debt but sometimes it's necessary. People take out loans to buy homes, start businesses, and get better educations beyond the locally provided one. Debt is often vilified but loans themselves can be extremely helpful to getting a leg up in the world.
To completely remove the student loan system would in simple terms be chaotic. For one, while student debt goes into the trillions, running Harvard alone costs 4.7 billion dollars.[4] One college out of the 25,000 that exist globally, not even including graduate schools. The costs of schooling might seem unfair to an outside perspective but it takes a lot of money to keep an entire campus full of dozens to hundreds of staff members paid.
The student loan system allows for the schools to get the money students might not be able to pay immediately, in full. This allows them to use the money they received from the loan without having to worry about late payments or lack thereof. It also gives the students freedom to pay off the debt in their own time and while interest occurs they have different options and ways to take care of the debt as long as they are smart about it.
Proponents
Premises
Rejecting the premises
References
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debt.asp
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/interestrate.asp
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/camilomaldonado/2018/07/24/price-of-college-increasing-almost-8-times-faster-than-wages/?sh=6b63034c66c1
- https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/08/cost-running-harvard.html