Loans are haunting students everywhere and many people do not know how they will repay all the money borrowed to get an education. The major question here is: Is four years of college worth being 20 years in debt?
College students everywhere are worrying about the increasing costs of attending college. Costs of tuition, living, and other expenses are constantly increasing, causing stress levels of many students to rise as well.
Today in the working world everyone needs a college degree or possibly more to receive a job. Many families though are in economic trouble, so paying for college may be something some people find unnecessary. Students need to realize the time and money for education will pay off.
Students in college are working to earn a degree to make a living once they have graduated college. This is a difficult situation because the job market is increasingly completive due to the combined effects of the recession and an ever increasing number of people who need jobs. To advance past certain levels of careers a college degree is necessary, but being thousands of dollars in debt just to try and get out of debt is a hard situation for many students.
Morningside college student Joe Tarpey says his worry about student debt is not obtaining a job with a high enough income to pay his loans starting six months after his graduation. Life comes with many expenses and those on top of student loans can require a large amount of money that could possibly be impossible to earn. Joe explained his experiences, saying, “College is all fun and games for some people, but they need to realize the large amount of money they are putting into a degree should not be taken for granted.”
The average cost in 2011 for a four year institution was $22,000 per year. Jerrie Hanson from Accounts Receivable at Morningside College said that the cost to attend this college increased four percent across the board. Those numbers can scare any student away from trying to achieve a degree. These numbers are increasing yearly.
There are a different number of solutions to convince students that higher education is a good economical choice. Four year state colleges are already much cheaper than a private education and with government aid nobody at state college usually has to pay full price. Jerrie Hanson also said Morningside College offers award packages to students depending on their year at the college, their financial aid package, and grades. She also said, “At this private college we have comparable prices to others, and the cost to attend the college does not turn students away.”
Another Morningsider, Erin Wissink, is working to become a nurse practitioner resulting in possibly seven years of higher education. She believes her job choice will eventually pay for the time and money put into her education, but finds it discouraging knowing that to receive a better job later in life she will have to spend $75,000 on her education. Erin believes, “A cut in tuition prices will increase the number of high school students enrolling in college directly after graduation.”
The struggle in college is not just receiving a passing grade, but also finding college to be a good economical choice. College costs are ever increasing and many students and their families are concerned about these costs.