student loan debt
Brittany Woods
Dr. Montgomery
English Composition 2
May 1, 2014
Student Loan Debt
Going to college has been taught to be the next step in education after graduating high school but is it truly that easy? The main factor to attending college now is the money issue. In today’s generation receiving a scholarship would be the best way to get through college without the burden of student loan debt piling up as you get further into college. Even though financial aid is available for students seeking college education, some of those students will not all qualify for financial aid. With them not being able to qualify, it leaves taking out student loans to afford those college expenses. By them having no other option but to take out student loans, it is the start to a long road of student loan debt issues. Majority of student loans today are through the popular loan company Sallie Mae. In 1972, Sallie Mae was founded as a private company for loans but since late 2004, it generally became a publicly traded company. The biggest challenge with student loans is finding one that offers the lowest interest rate. Rising interest rates may make obtaining and paying off student loans more burdensome, particularly for students from financially disadvantaged households. Students from lower income households rely on federal loans more heavily than their higher income counterparts, meaning that students from households with fewer financial resources may be disproportionately affected by increases in interest rates. For instance, over half of all lower income students pay for college with federal loans (ranging from 48% to 56%), whereas less than half of all higher income students pay with federal loans (ranging from 27% to 49%). While some research suggests that the overall percentage of students is small who report substantial problems with repaying their loans, those with lower current and lifetime earnings report the greatest difficulty and are perhaps overburdened.
Dr. Montgomery
English Composition 2
May 1, 2014
Student Loan Debt
Going to college has been taught to be the next step in education after graduating high school but is it truly that easy? The main factor to attending college now is the money issue. In today’s generation receiving a scholarship would be the best way to get through college without the burden of student loan debt piling up as you get further into college. Even though financial aid is available for students seeking college education, some of those students will not all qualify for financial aid. With them not being able to qualify, it leaves taking out student loans to afford those college expenses. By them having no other option but to take out student loans, it is the start to a long road of student loan debt issues. Majority of student loans today are through the popular loan company Sallie Mae. In 1972, Sallie Mae was founded as a private company for loans but since late 2004, it generally became a publicly traded company. The biggest challenge with student loans is finding one that offers the lowest interest rate. Rising interest rates may make obtaining and paying off student loans more burdensome, particularly for students from financially disadvantaged households. Students from lower income households rely on federal loans more heavily than their higher income counterparts, meaning that students from households with fewer financial resources may be disproportionately affected by increases in interest rates. For instance, over half of all lower income students pay for college with federal loans (ranging from 48% to 56%), whereas less than half of all higher income students pay with federal loans (ranging from 27% to 49%). While some research suggests that the overall percentage of students is small who report substantial problems with repaying their loans, those with lower current and lifetime earnings report the greatest difficulty and are perhaps overburdened.