About 70% of grads leave college in debt. Most students take out student loans expecting to pay them off within ten years, but the truth is, most people pay off their loans in about 21 years (usnews.com). Even worse, people still paying off student debt in their 40’s have an average of $33,765 worth of debt (cnbc.com). This is a heavy burden to bear for so long, but it can be eased by refinancing loans or loan forgiveness after 20 years (usnews.com). Also, rest assured that if you plan on becoming one of the many students who go into debt to get a college degree, the expense still seems to be well worth it; according to Vox, “College graduates aged 25 to 32 are the most indebted ever, but they're also earning $17,500 more per year than people their age who didn't go to college at all. They're also much less likely to be unemployed, and 86 percent believe their degrees are or will be worth the debt they incurred.” Whether or not you choose to take out loans to pay for your degree is a personal choice, but be sure to do some research into whether or not it makes sense for you before making such a big decision!
Isabelle Goodwin
I completely agree that people should do research before making such a life changing decision. I feel as though many students tend to feel the need to go straight to a four year in order to be considered “smart.” In reality, it is significantly cheaper and much more convenient depending on the route you are taking. I believe everyone should at least slightly look into attending a community college to keep their options open. By no means am I staying that it is ignorant to attend a four year university, but students should be more focused on the college aspects that will stick with them for several years such as debt.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this blog post is actually very useful because of the fact that so many students go into debt without really considering how big of a commitment it is. 21 years is a little more than twice our lifetimes right now, and paying off debts for this long is unimaginable. I think this is a very important thing to consider before picking a college to attend and can actually be life-changing.
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