Graduating students are racking up in debts immediately after graduation, but not all of them are able to find jobs that can easily pay off their debts. There is a misconception that student debts help to pursue one’s dreams, but in reality, it inhibits one to do so. Graduating students often expect to have a job, doing what they love, buy a house, have kids then sit back and retire in their 60s.
But, the fantasy diminished as many graduates struggle to find jobs after graduation, maintaining their income and repaying their student debts. In the article, “A Generation of College Grads Buried In Student Loan Debt” published by the Chicago Sun-Time, Tiela Halpin, a 32-year-old graduate with a B. A in Photography from Columbia College Chicago is owing 80 thousand dollars in student loan debt. Even with three jobs, Halpin still struggles to pay off her monthly payments and sometimes have to choose between paying rent or student loans.
Halpin expressed through tears, “ I’ll probably never be able to buy a car, I can’t afford to have kids…I fully intend to die with this debt. I don’t think it’s ever going to leave me” (Hinton; Rezin). According to the National Association of Realtors and American Student Assitance, millennials are delaying homeownership by an average of seven years and starting a family because of the student debts.
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Having that mountain of student loan debt is, indeed, hard to overcome as it stands an obstacle in one’s future. According to the National Association of Realtors, more than 80 percent of the people between the ages of 22 to 35 with student loan debt who have not owned a house blamed it on their higher education loans(Nova). On a monthly average, graduates are paying five hundred towards student debts. This is nearly half of the money a minimum wage worker could earn. And on top of that are living expenses which makes it almost impossible for one to pay off their student loan debt and live comfortably every month. However, not making payments on student debt loan can have parlous consequences.
Credit is damaged, making it harder to borrow to buy homes or cars. Based on the Federal Reserves statistics, student loan balances totaled up to $566 billion more than credit-card debt, making it the most common loan after mortgage loans ( Hinton; Rezin). As student loan debt continues to rise, it is becoming a bigger concern to many economists about the economy’s future because student debt loans disrupt and endanger the cycle in which Americans build their wealth for many years— through owning a house and car.
