EDITORIAL: The cost of being thrifty
A recent Associated Press article addressed an issue that at first glance hardly seems to be a problem — too little student loan debt.
Several students were featured to represent a large number that, to avoid student loan debt at most costs, either live at home, attend smaller schools, do not buy textbooks or work many hours each week.
The article cited that some educators do not believe this is the most effective way to move through college, because a college degree may not always be the result for these students. The money-saving methods most commonly implemented by students, listed above, were said to be “well-documented risk factors that makes students less likely to graduate.”
We live in a generation where students must decide based on personal finances, field of study and their willingness to take risks as to whether or not they will accrue a significant amount of student loan debt.
The light shed by this article on students who are afraid to take out loans in fear of not being able to attain a career after graduation to pay them back is one of many warning signs that the student loan system in our country is heavily flawed.
In recent years, the blame has easily fallen on students for not understanding the repercussions of taking out loans, let alone the basic value of money. The truth is we are living in a very different world than our parents did.
If a student were to work 40 hours a week through college, earning $8 an hour, they would still only make out with about $16,000 each year.
For a student at Central Michigan University, tuition is more than $10,000 per year. Add in the cost of living in either an apartment or residence hall, food, books, bills, transportation or any other necessity, the $16,000 cap has already been exceeded, and most students are not even making that much.
Our generation is no less hard-working that those prior, but we have to learn to work in a different way. Deciding to live at home or attend community college or not buy books falls on each student. They must choose what works for their lifestyle.
Another negative aspect of the student loan system is the ease in which money is handed out. While the money is most definitely necessary to cover the costs of college, students become accustomed to buying things with money they do not have, which is hardly a good mindset to charge into adulthood with.
There is a clear problem with the organization of the student loan system, yet there is a complete lack of anyone willing to attempt to flesh out a plausible solution.
Looking into the future of higher education, a collapse of the student loan system’s fragile backbone and higher education as a whole is sure to combust if changes are not made soon.
