Student Debt Synthesis Essay

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In today’s American society, the average college graduate leaves college with a whopping $37,172 in student loan debt. Crippled by constant payments, many struggle to keep up with payment plans. On top of that, federal student loans encompass an interest rate, which has a limit of 8%. Because the interest rates are so high, graduates can end up paying double the original loan amount. Coming from a large family, I have had first hand experience with the effects of student loans, and what it can do to a blossoming individual looking to start a new life. In today’s modern world, student loans have become an anchor just too heavy to drag.
And so, this introduces the issue of student debt, and if it is really fair to all American citizens. The total student loan debt in the U.S is 1.48 trillion dollars, 620 billion more than the national credit card debt (Source A). If that doesn’t say something about how outrageously expensive student loans are, then I don’t know what does. Additionally, in 2012, 71% of students graduating from
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The average amount of time it takes to pay off a student loan is around 21 years (Source B). This means that the average person ends up completely paying off their loans at 43 years old. This gargantuan amount of time needed to pay off a simple student loan hinders progress in one’s life, and creates unwanted stress. Brendan Coughlin states that “Students going to school understand that they’re going to have to pay back their loans over some time, but they’re not planning as well as they perhaps need to…”. College students do not realize how much of a burden student debt is until after they actually graduate, and get an anvil of debt dropped on their unsuspecting heads. There needs to be more awareness on how seriously burdening student loans are, and how people need to plan ahead and save

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