Financial Aid or Long-term Burden?

This is not a new idea or recent discovery, college students have a lot of student

loans. In fact according to studentloanhero.com, “Among the Class of 2018, 69% of

college students took out student loans, and they graduated with an average debt of

$29,800.” It seems to be that taking out student loans has become a social norm

comparable to having an instagram account, or getting a traffic ticket, everyone and

their grandma has at least one. Student loans stay with you no matter what, even after

filing a bankruptcy, student loans still need to be paid back in full. Do student loans

really help people like they are supposed to, or do they hurt more than help? Let's break

it down.

In Utah,”The average Utah college student takes on $19,975 in student loans

with less than half—43%—taking on debt to pay for school.” According to

nitrocollege.com. That is a lot of money to pay back, and all of that money is accruing

interest every day. “The average undergrad student in Utah has an interest accrual rate

somewhere in between %5.50 and %6.75 every year.” Let's make that a bit more

understandable with the lowest averages we have. The average student takes on

$19,975 worth of student loans, and with a %5.50 annual interest accrual rate, that

means that every year each students loan gathers an additional $998.75. Divide

$998.75 by 365, and we figure out that every day each student loan gathers an

additional $2.7. So even on the days that you are not in school your student loan debt is

still growing. Over the course of an average college summer vacation which is 114 days

long, your student loan debt grows by $307.8. Three and a half months where school is
usually the last thing on a person’s mind and yet the debt that they owe to school is

growing constantly.

Another perspective to consider, “The standard repayment plan for federal

student loans puts borrowers on a 10-year track to pay off their debt, but research has

shown the average bachelor's degree holder takes 21 years to pay off his or her loans.”

according to Usnews.com. 20 years is a long time, for a lot of students taking out

student loans for the first time that is longer than they have been alive. Picture this, An

average student is fresh outta high school and so excited to go to college, they come

from an average income household and are going to need some help paying for college,

nothing wrong with that, but because of the high cost of tuition, books, housing, and

other school supplies, they have to sign up for a 20 year long commitment. That means

that if everything goes to plan and you never miss a payment, that 18 year old student

will be paying off the last of their student loans when they are 38 years old.

Here is a graph showing the percentages of students that have received student loans

categorized by their age.

 No one wants to be stuck in debt for 21 years for something like student loans.

Student loan debt holds onto students for a long time and It can have more impact than

we think. Long term debt can have a lot of different effects on a person's mental health,

“Those suffering from debt will likely feel a combination of shame, depression,

embarrassment, anger, and anxiety. While physical and emotional problems occur out

of massive debt, other negative side effects occur as well.” According to

streetdirectory.com. Dealing with debt for long periods of time can affect every part of

your life, and cause you to feel unnecessary amounts of stress. “Stress can cause an

imbalance of neural circuitry subserving cognition, decision making, anxiety and mood

that can increase or decrease expression of those behaviors and behavioral states.”

according to “ebscohost.com”. So not only does having long term debt cause you to

have extra stress but due to that heightened level of stress you perceive your

surroundings differently. Student loans become long term debt, and that long term debt

affects so much more than your financial stability. Long term debt can affect all aspects

of your life such as family relationships, work ethic, and can even change how you react

to problems and different situations that you will face. The cost of college is rising every
year, and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, more and more students are

taking on these huge commitments without taking into account all the damage long term

debt can do in years to come. We need to inform these students about the real cost of

trying to afford an education.

In conclusion, The high cost of college causes students to depend on student

loans. Student loans are a long term commitment that not all students understand

exactly what they are signing up for. The long term loans cause each student to deal

with debt for long extended periods of time. Dealing with debt for long periods of time

causes you to have a heightened level of stress that changes how you perceive your

surroundings. We need to educate our students to more indepthly understand the

decision that they are making when they apply for student loans, they need to

understand that the loans will not just affect them financially, but emotionally as well.

WORKS CITED
1. Studentloanhero.com, https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/
2. Nitrocollege.com, https://www.nitrocollege.com/student-loans/utah
3. Usnews.com, https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-
mine/2014/10/07/student-loan-expectations-myth-vs-reality
4. Streetdirectory.com,
https://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/145856/debts_loans/negative_side_effects
_of_debt.html
5. Libweb.slcc.edu,
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.edu:2048/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=6f73e496
-2fb2-46d1-b118-3c40cf7f76d4%40pdc-v-
sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=edsihc.454171432454087&db
=edsihc