Persuading Students to Use Credit Cards and Financial Aid Responsibly - Admission/Application Essay Example

Outline THESIS: There is a growing number with credit card and loan debt at Broward College. Not all of them are conscious of the fact that their debts continue to gain interest over the years and leaves the student in a precarious financial situation if left unchecked. The students need to be informed of the methods by which they can avoid or deal with student credit card or student loan debt. I. Students at Broward College do not even realize they are incurring a continuing debt. A. Students at Boward College are incurring debts even before they begin working and receiving a regular paycheck. B. Students who become aware of their student loans and credit card debt develop a fear of not being able to pay back what they owe. II. Students in debt regularly borrow money from different sources in order to pay off their education related expenses. A. It has become increasingly harder to afford a regular college education. B. The cost of a semester in college is often more than the amount the parents have set aside for the student's educational needs. III. Broward College students realize they have a problem with student debt and credit card loans which is why some of them are seeking ways of getting out of debt. A. Some students visit the college career office in order to device a payment scheme based upon future potential income B.

The students have considered loan consolidation even at this early point in their lives. C. Other students have considered filing for bankruptcy in order to avoid paying for their debt. IV. Conclusion A. Most Broward College students realize that they need to pay off their debts soon after they graduate and get regular jobs. B. Broward College must push their students who have debts to consider Debt Consolidation at the soonest possible time. Persuading Students to Use Credit Cards and Financial Aid Responsibly Do Students at Broward College Realize They are Incurring Credit Card and Financial Aid Debts?

Broward University has a fast growing population of college students, all of whom seek to complete their college education based on a combination of their parent's educational fund that was set aside for them, and student loans paired with credit card charges. Although this is not the ideal method by which a student should complete his tertiary education, the harsh reality of life is that it is currently the only way a serious college student can afford to pay for classes and educational needs required to complete his requirements for graduation.

As I interviewed my classmates and dorm mates about their debts, a common factor began to emerge. Most of them did not realize that they owed money and to whom. Emily (name changed for privacy reasons), is one of those students who did not realize that all the loan applications she was filling out online and receiving checks for would need to be paid for in the future. She owes around $10,000 to various lenders and institutions already. Alfred (name also changed) on the other hand, is well aware of his credit card and student loan debts.

He estimates that he probably owes around $15,000 or more at this point. Getting Loans is a College Way of Life Information I have gathered shows that college tuition fees have increased and outpaced out country's inflation rate over the past 20 years (Tampor, Student Loan Exceeds Credit Card Debt in USA). It is important to note that tuition fees are increased at a rate of 25% every year (Tampor, Susan Student Loan Exceeds Credit Card Debt in USA). With our unemployment rate also increasing every month, some parents of Broward College students find themselves encouraging their children to apply for loans in order to cover for the financial setbacks.

These days, a parent can no longer just take out a second home mortgage to pay for their child's college education. Paying for the loans however, is also becoming harder for the students who have to pay off a debt even before they actually graduate and start earning a regular income. Seeking Ways Out of Debt Student loans surpassed the 1 Trillion mark in 2010 (Miller, Radhika Student Debt Crisis Isn't Just About Economy). For most Broward College students, those figures indicate the tightening of the financial noose around their necks as they struggle to pay off their student loans and credit card debts.

On the average, a college student will graduate with an incurred educational debt of at least $ 25,000. With such a huge amount of debt to be paid back to various lenders, a college student would spend most of his time just figuring out whom he owes and how much to pay. That is why the career office of Barrow College helps students map out a consolidated payment plan. Under student debt consolidation, a student only needs to tally up how much is owed in total and then work towards paying off the total debt, regardless of how much each creditor is owed.

The government will take care of paying them back. This is a payment scheme which is usually based upon what the student might potentially be earning in the future once he is employed. Although not a fool-proof method of getting out of debt, it is enough of a good start. (Jonnes, Alex Help for Students: Debt Consolidation). Debt consolidation for students does not however include any federal loans incurred by the student. One thing that the Barrow College student must recognize is that filing bankruptcy in order to get out paying for their student loans is never a good idea.

Reneging on a debt will simply ensure that it will become harder for the students after us to get a student loan. Credit card companies will become wary of issuing credit cards to college students due to the high risk of non-payback. Filing for bankruptcy in other words, will simply help jack up the price of college education in the future. Conclusion The Barrow College community is composed if highly intelligent students who realize that we are all laying out the foundation for those after us to be able to afford to pay for a decent college education.

That is why I asked my schoolmates to make some suggestions pertaining to staying out of credit card and student loan debt. We all seemed to have the same idea when it came to convincing our classmates to use student loans and financial aid responsibly. This early, the students must have a clear and realistic idea of how much they already owe and to whom. With a clear career path in mind, a consultation with the career office of the university can help determine how much money one might be earning in the future and use that figure as a starting point in managing their debt payments.

A quality education is important to each student's future. But as it becomes more financially straining to achieve that goal, college students must learn to grow up and fast become mature adults when it comes to incurring and paying for student debt. Works Cited Alfred. Personal Interview. 8 Mar. 2012. Emily. Personal Interview. 6 Mar. 2012. Jonnes, Alex. “Help For Students: Debt Consolidation”. Expert Authors. Ezine Articles. n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. Miller, Radhika S. “Student Debt Crisis Isn't Just About Economy”.

Student Loan Ranger. USNews. 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 7 Mar. 2012. Tompor, Susan. “Student Loan Debt Exceeds Credit Card Debt in USA”. Money - Personal Finance. USA Today. 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 9 Mar. 2012.