America’s Financial Weakness: High Student Loans

Bridget Beimler
Aug 31, 2018 · 6 min read

English Composition

By: Bridget Beimler

Photo By Cnbc Ariel Skelley

America’s Financial weakness: High Student Loans

Meet Kendalle she is a recent college graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). During her four years at FGCU she studied communications and funded her degree by utilizing student loans. After graduation she secured her dream job working for a local TV Station. Her annual salary is $48,000 per year. Now, Kendalle feels like she’s on top of the world! She has worked hard for 4 years in college, she thought about quitting many times because the expense was such a burden. However, she stuck it out and is glad she did.

With her new job and salary, Kendalle needs to find her first apartment and purchase a car. Her apartment rent is $1000 per month and her new car payment is $300 per month. Then Kendalle gets a letter in the mail that her college loans are coming due and she needs to start making her monthly payments which are $500 per month… She has created a monthly budget that she attends to.


Electric/ Water

$137/$100

Phone/Internet

$129/$62

Car insurance (monthly)

$200

Gas (weekly average)

$40

Food (weekly average)

$50

Health Insurance

$285

Savings

$1300


Kendalle is like is so many other college graduates who end up in thousands of dollars in debt upon graduation. The college debt epidemic has been spiraling out of control for years. There are currently 44 million Americans who owe thousands in student debt. In total, Americans owe over $1.48 trillion dollars in student loans. This exceeds the total U.S. credit card debt by $620 billion dollars.

Source: National Center For Education Statistics

We know a college graduate earning potential over a lifetime is typically much higher than someone with a high school diploma. According to a new study by Georgetown University college graduates “earn $1 million more” in earnings over a lifetime. A new college graduate earns on average $51,206 yearly, compared to a high school graduate whose average earning is $27,915 a year.


Clarification on the imporrtance and effect student debt has

The question becomes how can we create more equal opportunities for people like Kendalle to attend college and not end up with so much debt? During an interview with the Huffington Post a teacher questioned her student on his ability to try on an entry test for college. His response was ultimately shocking. He responded to his teacher by saying “what’s the point? My parents can’t afford college, and the competition is too high for someone like me anyways.”

If all students could attend college with lower tuition it would reduce the amount of student debt and increase the number of students. For example, Utah has the lowest average student loan debt in the nation. Currently, there average tuition is $12,475 which is about 8,000 less than Florida’s average tuition. The university of Utah’s current undergrad enrollment is 23,789. Since 2017, the state of Utah has had an increase in undergrad students by over 4,000 students. This indicates that student enrollment is inclining with reduced tuition.

Not only will more affordable high education increase enrollment in colleges, it will decrease the dropout rate due to financial strain. Currently, 51% of students have dropped out of colleges due to cost and funding. That is more than half the student population. One solution that could change this outcome for the better is if the government were to divert the money being spent on financial aid and use it to towards making all public colleges and university’s tuition free.

Although some states have started to implement tuition plans to assist families, not enough is being done. For example, the state of New York executed their Excelsior Scholarship fall of 2017. The scholarship is New York State’s tuition free degree program that is offered to low and middle-income families. By starting this program, it helps give students the ability to obtain their degree that they’re seeking. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that college tuition is at an all-time high. New York is currently the only state in the United States that offers a free tuition program. Meanwhile, there are still 49 states that don’t have that advantage. If Kendalle had the ability to be a part of the Excelsior scholarship she wouldn’t have to stress as much about funding for her monthly bills and repaying her student loans.

In conclusion, this leads to our ultimate question. How do we prevent students from obtaining such high student loans? This can be achieved by the government finding ways to fund public colleges for free instead of giving students a minimal amount to attend public colleges. Overall, anyone can agree with me when I say college does not need to be as expensive as it is. Students need to focus on their studies, goals, and achievements and not focusing on the amount it cost to attend college or the amount they will owe in student loans.

Citations: https://www.usnews.com/news/data-mine/articles/2017-11-07/federal-data-show-39-million-students-dropped-out-of-college-with-debt-in-2015-and-2016

https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/51-of-college-students-dropped-out-of-school-due-to-costs-study-finds

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-is-college-so-expensive-2018-4

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/24/students-would-drop-out-of-college-to-avoid-more-debt.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/03/01/why-college-is-so-expensive-and-how-to-fix-it/#6c602322252f

https://higheredutah.org/enrollment-at-utahs-public-colleges-and-universities-up-by-over-4000-for-second-year-in-a-row/

Bridget Beimler

Professor Lewis G. Perkins

ENC 1101

31 August 2018

The purpose of my writing “America’s Financial Weakness: High Student Loans” is to discuss important financial factors that lead to high student loan debt. I am currently a college student who is struggling myself to pay for school. As a student who doesn’t qualify for pell grant but also can’t afford college completely on my own I struggle to come up with the finances to afford tuition for college. As a student I want to voice the struggles many students come across with when trying to afford college tuition.

By using ethos, logos, and pathos I persuade my readers to agree with my stance. I show this through my writing by addressing how student loans have greatly impacted America’s debt. Using articles, statistics, and multiple news sources I discuss the importance of lowering tuition in public colleges and universities. How it will help our economy, students, and families nationally. I present this information by using statistics on students drop outs from college due to financial need. As well as providing a college graduate profile to represent the effect of high education costs. By doing this I also appeal to my readers emotions.

In my rhetorical appeal I strongly convey the importance of all students having equal opportunities to attend college. It is important to recognize the number of students who are burdened by debt from student loans. I supply multiple ways the government could make it possible for all students to attend college with lower to no tuition fees. For example, the government could focus on funding public colleges for free or reduced tuition prices. In my essay I supply evidence on how this will happen and the effects it will have on our economy and student body. By providing statistics on Utah’s average tuition costs and student loan debt. It represented the number of students who attended collegian institutions with lower tuition. Comparing it to Florida’s average tuition costs and student loan debt Statistics showed that Utah has lower tuition costs which resulted in lower student loan debt. By discussing my rhetorical appeal in my essay not only helped me convey my stance to readers but also gave me a better understanding of how expensive school really is and how much debt I am going to be in.

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