There have been numerous debates about how to decrease student debt. Solutions have focused on revising the current lending system, providing more funding for colleges, reducing school spending and granting more federal aid for students. These proposals all involve government involvement and usually call for implementation on a national scale and deploying large funding in order to cause change. However, few realize that students have the power to erect change in their education. After all, students are the ones being affected by this debt crisis and are the ones who are funding the higher education system. It may take time to solve this issue, but the future looks bright in the search for the elusive solution.
Governmental agencies play a key role in helping to fund the higher education system in this country. Unfortunately, current intervention has not proven to be effective at lowering student debt, as they merely provide students with more aid during their college years and impose high interest rates on the loans after graduation. One of the most prominent proposals for decreasing student debt was introduced last year. President Obama’s Community College Initiative calls for the federal government to provide two years of free community college education to students who meet academic benchmarks. Such a plan would not only help reduce the cost of a four-year degree, but would also better prepare students academically once they transfer to a four-year college. The immediate and distant benefits of the proposal seem effective and promising.
Students are also responsible for their educational expenses. Not graduating on time, taking-out too excessive loans, not finding employment and not paying on time all contribute to the accumulation of student debt. It is up to us, as students, to responsibly fund our education.
Governmental agencies play a key role in helping to fund the higher education system in this country. Unfortunately, current intervention has not proven to be effective at lowering student debt, as they merely provide students with more aid during their college years and impose high interest rates on the loans after graduation. One of the most prominent proposals for decreasing student debt was introduced last year. President Obama’s Community College Initiative calls for the federal government to provide two years of free community college education to students who meet academic benchmarks. Such a plan would not only help reduce the cost of a four-year degree, but would also better prepare students academically once they transfer to a four-year college. The immediate and distant benefits of the proposal seem effective and promising.
Students are also responsible for their educational expenses. Not graduating on time, taking-out too excessive loans, not finding employment and not paying on time all contribute to the accumulation of student debt. It is up to us, as students, to responsibly fund our education.