I decided to use student debt and the crisis that is a major problem in America for my annotated bibliography.
- According to cnbc.com, 44 million Americans owes over $1.6 trillion in student debt, and the numbers are drastically increasing. Although advancements in technology are a great thing, it makes lives harder for students to earn a living wage without an advanced degree. College is expensive. From public transportation for students who live off-campus to textbooks cost for each class, to food and personal expenses. As well as paying for each required class you need in order to graduate. It is a lot of money being spent and it gets very overwhelming. The article poses a good question that I question myself when thinking about college expenses: “do they risk going into debt they can’t pay back or miss out on the benefits of a college degree?” In February of 2008, America was affected by an economic recession between Mid-March- June, and over 42.6 million Americans filed for unemployment, during the recession, the cost of a four-year college degree increased by 25%, and student debt unfortunately increased by 107%. Monthly student loan payment averages from $200 and $299 and 11.1% of the loans are 90 days or more delinquent or in default.
- I’ve learned that student debt has been one of the biggest financial issues American is facing, yet nothing is being done. I’ve recently seen a lady on TikTok finding out that she had paid over $120,000 in debt for 10 years but still owe over $76,000 with 7% interest. I also heard plenty of people paying student loans after 20-30 years of graduating. These loans are stressful and expensive. It preys on young, vulnerable students who need accessible money to go through college, then after graduation, it hits them extremely hard and it is no way to get rid of it, quickly.
- Do they risk going into debt they can’t pay back or miss out on the benefits of a college degree? Is college worth it if my only option is to apply for student loans? How can these loans be tackled once and for all? Why should college be free for all?
This is a great topic. but you need to clarify the questions. I might ask one of these:
How can college be made free for all?
What are the long term impacts of taking on student loans?
Then if you choose one of these, once you start reading around, you might decide to refocus a bit–depending on what you find.