Issues on Graduating with Student Loan - Essay Example

? Number] Issues on Graduating with Loan Every has a right to get the best education.He should not be left behind only because of one reason-money. The best education from the best university is not hard to achieve. Thanks to these student loans which provides us with all the required financial assistance and aid which helps in achieving a successful future ahead. With increasing inflation, the cost of education is also proliferating and universities, according to a study done during 1999 to 2000 both public and private are asking for ample education fee (Millet 427). They don’t realize the fact that it is getting difficult for those students who do not belong to those affluent families who can afford it easily but they left behind although they do have the potential and capability, and they do deserve to achieve quality education to enhance and flourish their amazing skills and talents (Baum 75).According to my point of view, these students do have a right to enroll into good colleges and get high standard education because this is not their fault that they don’t belong to wealthy families, then they don’t deserve to be left behind. Before getting a student loan, one should not hurry up and make a decision of getting one. There are some issues which students should know, and then after resolving them, think whether they should go for getting a loan from their respective universities or not. It has been found during the past few years that the number of students who are finding it hard to pay of the student load is increasing. This is a grave issue faced by the universities and because of this; cost of educating student is rising like anything which is creating great trouble in providing educational services. The price of education being provided by both public and private institutions is rising by 37% and 25% respectively and around 18% rise in each borrower’s debt due to student loan (Moomaw 213). These statistics are clearly demonstrating the current student loan situation which should be analyzed and brought under consideration in order to stop and to fulfill the dreams of millions of deserving students (Moomaw 213). As there has been a parallel rise in the cost of education overall, universities are facing many issues in graduating students with the help of these loans as well as students are facing many problems. The student debt problem has to be resolved, and many people are coming up with some wise solutions like giving multiple proposals to the universities which includes different revenue generating activities and convincing donors to provide more funds for the universities so that this financial problem can be fixed. Numerous types of proposals have been passed like increasing Pel Grants, student loan forgiveness and many others(Martin par. 6).. Spreading awareness among the borrowers is also another solution. This will not give an instant result in curing this issue, but at least one can make a try. But still, we have to look over to issues carefully and start working on them (Cooper 75). In order to decide whether graduating from a university with the help of a student loan will be worth it or not, the student needs to know about the pros and cons of this student loan. Some student loans provide a facility of deferred loans. This helps them to pay off loans once they get employed, but the issue with such types of student loans is this that in this case, the student will not grasp the real consequences of the debt. But this option is considered to be one of those which are seen as the last resort to many of the students. Here the issue that was faced by the universities and especially located in US was that more than half of the graduates, around 53.6%, didn’t have any job. They were unable to pay back their loan on time, causing many problems. Therefore, student loans should only be transacted to a student after analyzing his capability to pay it back in future; the lowest possible amount should be given which can be enough to help him getting his education (Asplund, et al 243). These student loans only facilitate the students who are from middle class families but not to those who are above average. At times, students from a rich background also require a student loan because of certain problems but this may not be possible for them as now when the student and their families are investigated about their financial scenario and their background, loans are preferably given to those who are going through a financial crisis and cannot afford expensive high quality education. This is where students belonging to above average students are left behind as their respective student loans are not accepted. Another issue faced because of these student loans at the time of graduating is that sometimes these loans, themselves, are too high that it becomes difficult for the student to even think about it because one day they have to pay the debt off. Such students are uncertain whether they will be capable enough time in future to give the loan back or not. Getting high standard education is a problem which is not solely resolved only with the idea of getting a student loan. One day, these students have to pay back the loan or else they will see some unpleasant consequences. Sometimes, the fear of not paying off the debt stops the students from even applying for this source of financial assistance. Colleges need to think over this issue and lower the price of the education so that students can afford and find easy to pay off the loan in a considerable amount of time. There are some long term issues faced by the students who get access to these education loans. When a student gets restricted to pay off his debt in a specific time period after his college ends, his personal life and career life both get affected badly. In order to pay back all the loan he has taken, he may decide to work for multiple part time jobs to earn money and doesn’t give much importance of getting a professional education or any further education after college education just because he knows he will not be able to afford it unless he pay back his loan. In this way his future life gets disrupted as he is unable to get more education that requires for a sound career and a successful future ahead. Such students don’t get much time to enjoy their social life and achieve a status and presence in the society as they too are indulged in work when they are not supposed to do it. These are some of the issues that the students need to know in order to save their career and be a successful in the future. Student loans are provided to fulfill the desire of getting education which is too expensive for the students who desire to enroll in a good college. Its main aim is only to facilitate those students who are unfortunately poor but still wish deeply to stand out in the crowd and be a part of a well-educated society and make their parents proud, but here, again an issue is being experienced by many of these well deserving students (Asplund, et al 255). Students who belong to well-educated and wealthy families always benefit as such families know how exactly to get financial assistance i.e. in terms of scholarships. Irrespective how good the student is academically, these high income families are always ahead of lower income families because they have their sources and know how to tackle the situation well. This way, students from low income groups are at disadvantage and most of the times are not lucky enough to get scholarships. Student loans are usually transacted to those students who top the merit list and are academically very strong. For the ones who achieve good grades and CGPA all during the year in their exams and tests, their loans get sanctioned. This isn’t fair for the ones who are fairly good and deserve a student loan because they are poor and unable to show what they are capable of. But at times, these are the ones, the low-income students, who are unaware of the fact that the cost of education incurred on them might be too high to pay back after graduating (Baum 75). Before going for a student loan and risking your future lives, one has to see what problems you can face because of it. If issues outweigh the benefits you will gain from it, then making such a step is completely stupid. The issue with the student loan is that it has created a lot of discrimination between the students as well. Male students have more chances of getting a loan rather than a female student and the ones who don’t have a family to support. This is what happens in Washington community colleges which are not fair (England-Siegerdt 88). Because of these student loans, one risks their future career lives because of this paying off debt problem. There are many other options available to the needy students rather than student loans, like various scholarships, which enables them to get more benefits and to free themselves from the big tension that settles in their brains, paying back their loan (England-Siegerdt 88). Nowadays, it has been observed that many of the college and universities actually bluff students and their parents by making some marketing strategies that showcase a whole different scenario. They actually deliver this statement that the education of college the students will receive will outweigh the costs in future. They don’t give the correct estimation of college costs at the time of providing student loans, just to attract the students to get education from their universities. They also state that governments don’t provide them with any educational subsidies and cost marketing officers provide you with wrong details. In this way, students get easily convinced in getting student loans, but in the end have to face many issues when they are unable to pay off their debts. These issues are faced because students are not aware of the problems and the issues and get trapped only when they get easy access to these loans and a hope that their education can be easily financed (Martin 1) In California, many of the issues faced when graduating with the help of Student loans have been faced by a sufficient numbers of students. McClanahan has come up with many solutions as to how students can help to maintain the cost of education low for themselves such as working for part-time jobs. Increasing college debt should not be seen as a big problem for anyone, in fact itself it serves as an effective marketing system. Such steps adopting in keeping the cost lower will enable the student to overcome all the economic issues faced due to student loan received (McClanahan 539). On the opposite side of the argument, certain issues faced by the students can be eradicated easily if the positive side of the student loan is known to them such as well rewarding jobs after the college education they can get which will surely enable them to pay off their debt. However, a student will only be able to achieve such high paid salary jobs if he will be able to deliver good academic performance throughout his college years by getting some major subjects. In this way, he might be able to get further education with the help of a scholarship, and this will further add value to his resume and make more chances to get a good job. Students just have to see whether the return of college education is more than the investment they are making or not only then can such benefits be useful (Moomaw 230). Misinformed students are responsible for themselves for the times when they face big issues at the time of paying off their student loans. They might get all the information regarding the cost of education incurring on them, but they don’t know that this estimated cost also rises in the future in several cases, i.e., when the interest rates are increased over the years and student debt over the debt of credit card. It is obvious that the student loan might increase, but the main problem is the wrong information the students have, but they don’t realize this very important thing that this may result in a very big problem by the end of the day. A study was drawn with the MSW (Masters in Social Work) graduates who showed that the educational liabilities on MSW students are much higher than the other graduate students (Yoon 125). A hefty amount of money is required to complete MSW education, around $40,000, and a large proportion of the students receiving these are unable to pay for these liabilities. This finding enables us to know about the diversity in debt burdens over the college students, and this is why they get to face more of financial problems during their college time (Yoon 125). If a student wants a guaranteed successful life after receiving a college education, then he must be aware of the issues he can face after graduating because of the student loan. Because if he knows it beforehand, then he might work according to it and find a solution. Work Cited Asplund, Rita, Abdelkarim, Oussama Ben, and Ali Skalli. “Student Loans and the Likelihood of Graduation: Evidence from Finnish Cohort Data.” Higher Education in Europe 34.2 (2009): 243-255. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 3 July 2012. Baum, Sandy. “Hard Heads and Soft Hearts: Balancing Equity and Efficiency in Institutional Student Aid Policy.” New Directions for Higher Education 140 (2007): 75-85. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 3 July 2012. Cooper, Paul. “The Gift of Education: An Anthropological Perspective on the Commoditization of Learning. “Anthropology Today 20.6 (2004): 5-9. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 3 July 2012. England-Siegerdt, Christy. “Do Loans Really Expand Opportunities for Community College Students?” Community College Journal of Research and Practice 35.1/2 (2011): 88-98. ERIC. Web. 3 July 2012. Martin, Andrew, and Andrew W. Lehren. “A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College.” The New York Times 12 May 2012. Web. 3 July 2012. McClanahan, Annie. “The Struggle for Public Education in California: Coming Due: Accounting for Debt, Counting on Crisis.” South Atlantic Quarterly 110.2 (2011): 539-545. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 3 July 2012. Millet, Catherine M. “How Undergraduate Loan Debt Affects Application and Enrolment in Graduate or First Professional School.” Journal of Higher Education 74.4 (2003): 386-427. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 3 July 2012. Moomaw, Ronald, Olson, Kent W., Applegate, Michael, and Bill McLean. Chapter 9: College Education: Is it Worth the Cost? Economics and Contemporary Issues. 8th ed. Ohio: South-Western, 2010, 213-230. Print. Rotherham, Andrew J. “Student Loans: Is There Really a Crisis?” Time Magazine, 17 May 2012. Web. 3 July 2012. Yoon, Intae. “Debt Burdens among MSW Graduates: A National Cross-Sectional Study.” Journal of Social Work Education 48.1 (2012): 105-125. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 3 July 2012. Read More