The Effect of Student Debt in Higher Education: A Study of Literature

  

Gabriel A. Roman

Abstract

           

            This paper will explore published articles that examine debt gained by college students in U.S. colleges and universities. All the articles in this paper will revolve around how students gain debt and pay for it as well as the effect in career paths. There are statements here stating how students who seek higher degrees in medicine and law will gain a higher debt payment, quotes from individuals and how they pay or not pay their debt, and the outcome debt has on students. In all, this literature paper will stress the effects of debt placed on students and how some are trying to pay for it.

Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have any worry of debt while in college? It’s a fact that everyone wants to make a life for themselves and the way most do it is through college. We are able to gain the tools we need to make a better future but along the way, many students and post graduates have built such a high debt that they are unable to pay after graduating. Many don’t know how long it will take to pay back their debt and many don’t end up paying their debt because most cannot afford to pay, “She [Ms. Brown] would accept all that, she insists, in hopes of changing the national conversation about college affordability. “The question has been asked repeatedly about the morality of not paying debts," she says. "We now need to ask the question about the morality of paying when the vast majority of people cannot afford to pay."” Now knowing many unable to pay for their debt, why do many still choose to get student loans and private loans for their education? Is the knowledge we gain worth the price we pay? (Hoover p. 1)

Obtaining Debt throughout College

            It’s not a lie that throughout our college career, we will build a debt that most hope it does not become overwhelming. Many students hope to be able to pay it back and many of them are unable to. There are those who are unable to complete their college career goal and end up not completing a class. Debt has become a major problem in Higher Education, especially in the health career. In an article by Grayson and others called “Payback time: the associations of debt and income with medical student career choice”, she mentions the affects debt has on students who are on the path of a medical career.

     Debt was associated with the value placed on income in the choice of career and the amount of future income anticipated. Students who valued income highly were especially inclined to switch from PC (Practical Care) during medical school. The switch away from PC was associated with debt, as well as with a marked increase in anticipated income. Conclusions Debt and anticipated income are important concerns which may shape future supplies of PC doctors.

Debt tends to pile up for not only students in the medical career but also undergraduates. Robin Wilson, author of “A Life Time of Debt? Not likely”, states that “People don’t pay attention to the debt” (Wilson 258). There are some post graduates as well as students that have seen higher education plummeting due to the debts they have to pay post-graduation. In Hoover’s article titled Debt Protesters Denounce Colleges for Broken Promises, he mentions Ms. Brown, a graduate student, who has more than $100,000 in education debt, which she's long planned to repay after graduating and finding a job; comments that “like many students and recent graduates, however, she's come to see higher education as a promise gone sour, an ever-deepening pit of debt.” (Hoover p. 1)

re-paying debt (how future people pay, or don't pay, debt once they are out of college)

Not many are lucky to have paid all their debt by the time they graduate. Colleges and universities have given students the ability to work around the campus in order to pay for their education. Although this seems like a positive effect to help students pay and try to minimize debt, work is bound to get in the way of education. As students worry about having money in their pockets and scavenge any type of job they can find in or around the campus, they put aside their studies and their capability to perform in class is diminished. In his article, Hoover is able to capture a statement made by Ashley Dawson, an English professor at the College of Staten Island, regarding how work affects students ability to work in class and colleges maintaining high educational standards, “As the rally was winding down, Ashley Dawson, an English professor at the College of Staten Island, read from a pledge that asks faculty members to support students who refuse to pay their loans. Debt, he told the crowd, limits what's possible in the classroom. "When students are working one or two jobs, it affects the kind of assignments you can give them," he said. "We want to maintain the highest educational standards, but it just gets harder and harder."” (Hoover p. 2) Although there are those who don’t or are unable to pay for their loans, there are those like Jill McCusker, mentioned in “A Life Time of Debt? Not likely”, who belongs to a group labeled as silent majority who “are repaying their student loans without much complaint” (Wilson 259). Although this silent majority may be of a group who are lucky enough to be paying their loans, there is a greater majority who are unable to pay for their loans.

Personal Experience

            I have come to face the fact that debt will exist in every student’s college career including mine. I have been worrying about student debt and taking out loans since my sophomore year of high school even as far as asking my college counselor if there is a way to go to college and not take out loans. Owing thousands of dollars was a terrifying realization and even more since I am from a low income family and I know I am not the only one because I have met many others who have felt the same. When I was picking a college, I felt somewhat as the odd one out because most of my classmates would be heading out toward private colleges or to the school of their dreams; meanwhile, I was heading out to a state university because I worried more about the debt I would have to pay than the education I would get, knowing that the education I get will be the same no matter where I went. After having read these articles, I have come to realized I made the right decision for my future and although I will undoubtedly have some loans that need to be paid, I will come out not owing as much as other students who graduate at the same time as myself. 

Conclusion

            When heading towards a college degree, loans have to be taken and this is the fact everyone knows; but, what we can do is learn more about how debt is obtained. That statement by Wilson in his article is something many in this country should ask themselves. Higher education will be followed by debt but how high you want your debt to be is up to you. It is undeniable that every college student will have to pay for their higher education but if students were educate themselves on debt, and then many would not need to over pay for your education. So, to the students and graduates from others schools ask yourself this; was what you paid for your education really worth the price or could you have obtained the same education for less?

Works Cited

Grayson, Martha S, Dale A. Newton, and Lori F. Thompson. “Payback time: the associations of debt and income with medical student career choice” Medical Education (2012): 983-991. Academic Search Premier Database. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

Hoover, Eric. “Debt Protesters Denounce Colleges for Broken Promises.” Chronicles of Higher Education (2011). Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

Wilson, Robin. “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely.” They Say, I say(2012):258-259. Norton and Company Inc. Printed.