STUDENT DEBT AND AMERICA’S FUTURE
Students in America today are facing a challenge unlike any previous generation before them – record levels of debt. Students are graduating with higher levels of debt that is greatly crippling their ability to get a foothold in the American Economy. President Obama has recently taken an executive action to assist students who borrow money to finance their higher education. I am in full support of the President’s bold and forward thinking steps aimed at decreasing student debt.
The President’s “Pay as you Earn” initiative will cap federal student loan payments to ten-percent of their monthly income. Students with private loans can refinance their loans at today’s lower interest rates. This action will allow graduates the financial breathing room to start investing in their futures, without the disproportionate burden of student loan repayments hanging over their heads.
Each year, 20 million young Americans enroll in college. Of that number, 12 million borrow to meet the obligations of their educational expenses. Given the nation’s slow economic growth, many of these graduates are (and will be) unable to secure employment within the six-month grace period. In 2013, the unemployment rate for college graduates between the ages of 22 and 27 was 5.6 percent according to Bloomberg.
More concerning is the fact that many of our nation’s youth are denied access to higher education. According to studies by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, college enrollment in America has declined by 12.8%, partially due to rising college costs. They simply cannot afford it and are frightened by the massive amounts of debt that they will have to assume.
Under the executive order, student borrowers that make regular loan repayments may have their remaining balances forgiven after 20 years of regular payments. Teachers, nurses, military personnel and other public servants will be eligible to have their remaining debt forgiven after only ten years of regular loan repayments.
As a society, we must invest in our students and in their ability to pursue higher education. The global ranking of American students, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math is on a steady decline. We can regain the position of prominence we once enjoyed, and that our nation desperately needs, if we invest in our students. Burdening them with massive debt is a tremendous disservice to them and to our country.
Higher education has always been viewed as society’s great equalizer. The president’s most recent executive order and the progressive measure before Congress will ensure that our colleges and universities will continu to be the bastions of equality that the founders of this great nation intended them to be.
