When I say the government has a gambling problem, I am not referring to card games or slot machines; I am talking about how we are considered the variables in a game of chance. They are gambling on our future generation. I am talking about the massive amount of debt the average college student must take on in order to finish their degree. Below I will quickly give a glimpse as to how the system is broken and why you as a student or the parent of a student should care.
Student loan debt is the fastest growing type of debt in America and can be crippling to low income families. According to Collegefactual.com, over two thirds of students at Francis Marion take on student loans their first semester in order to cover expenses and they borrow just under $8,000 a year on average. That is to say, if you finish your degree on the original four year plan that on average you will have borrowed a little over $32,000 as part of certain loans are not subsided and incur interest while you are in school. Those of us who hit a rough patch during their college experience could be paying back much more.
If you manage to graduate on time and only have borrowed the medium loan debt, you will need to find employment in the next six months before repayment begins. This can be tricky, as most people do not have their jobs lined up before they graduate, and the task of finding a job that pays a decent wage considering their debt can be daunting. If you find yourself unable to pay back your loan debt, you then join the over 10% of students that graduate from Francis Marion who are in default. This is over the national average of 7% by almost half. Once in default, your credit score falls; you may have trouble getting loans for a house, reliable transportation or even a job as employers are allowed to check your credit score. What is worse is that once in default it becomes a much more difficult climb to get out of default. Even if you declare bankruptcy the student loan debt doesn’t go away; this is different than most loan debt in that sense.
If downing in debt wasn’t bad enough, we can pour salt in the wound when we talk about how the system favors the rich. Many students, who come from low income families, must work a part time job in addition to their school work. This absence of time can cause loss of scholarships, which results in borrowing more money, that given their family’s income, people are incapable of paying back. The people, who do not need to borrow money to attend college often do not have to work in addition to going to school, giving them more time to study and do projects often leading to higher grades. They are then entitled to the same scholarships and have to spend even less of their own money. In short this system clearly favors those who have the most resources on hand.
When I look at this data and see how a system I am reliant on to finish college is in many ways set up to work against me, I am left with many questions. A few of the ones that keep me up at night are, “Why is the government gambling with my future?” “Why am I, as a voter letting them?” “Why is there always enough money to fund wars but yet we can’t educate the next generation of scientists, engineers and business men without asking them to go deep into debt?” and “Should we accept a system that makes the poor work harder to have a diminished return on their investment?” While I am not in any position to answer any of these questions, I can say firmly that I believe the current system is broken and needs reform to actually help the people is says it is in place to help.
