Citation: Ulbrich, Timothy R. Kirk, Loren M, “It’s Time to Broaden the Conversation About the Student Debt Crisis Beyond Rising Tuition Costs” 2017, It’s Time to Broaden the Conversation About the Student Debt Crisis Beyond Rising Tuition Costs – ScienceDirect (cuny.edu)

Summary: 

The point of the article written by Timothy Ulbricj and Loren Kirk is to explain how student debt affects those who ask for a loan on the long term. The authors first explains this claim by referencing how students that enter into the pharmacy business are getting more in debt since statistics shows that “The average amount borrowed for students graduating from pharmacy school increased from $101,892 in 2009 to $163,494 in 2017”. With this number occurring in 2017, that number should have increased slightly more. Another claim to add on how the rising tuition can affect students even more is “approximately two out of five US adults (38%) paying off student loans are unable to save for retirement.” With the increasing rise of student debt piling on, it is said to calculate or atleast take in consideration how much you might owe based on what you are studying for and the significance of you degree, such claim stated in the article, “If you borrowed to help pay for your college expenses in the PharmD degree program, please estimate how much you will owe at date of graduation.” In addition to taking in consideration of prices for tuition, the authors write how the expenses of living can be up to $20,000, especially for a degree in a major as pharmacy/medical. With the $20,000 add on for living expenses, calculating for 4 years plus if someone wants to up their degree to a higher level, the price ends up being at an estimate of $160,000, as said in the article under the living expenses section. With these factors of expenses listed by the authors, their statement is based on how to manage their money on their journey to a degree.

Reflection:

I agree with the information in the article about how with the increasing amount of debt that is occurring, students in majors that require most attention and time should observe how much they are in for post graduation. The author’s writing style is to show facts based on the rise of tuition for certain degrees and how much debt students can get into. Knowing degrees for the fields of medical/pharmacy would most likely have the con of a grand amount of debt, students should at least look out every expense, such as how long are they working towards the degree, whether they are living in a dorm and if the major requires payment for materials. The information based on the medical field presented in the article really brings out numbers from a decade ago to describe how much students can be affected by their choice for the rest of their lives. It was also interesting to see an estimated number of students are unable to save up much for retirement. One fact that was bright enough to look at is that in studies for 2016, “the average pharmacist’s salary was $120,270. The average amount borrowed for a graduate in the class of 2016 was $157,425”. This article is greatly recommended to college students on how much their choice of major can impact them once they have their degree, specifically this is more direct to students in the medical field. This article is a credible source as it is a peer reviewed article and its facts are referenced to multiple websites. 

Quotes:

  • “approximately two out of five US adults (38%) paying off student loans are unable to save for retirement.”
  • “The average amount borrowed for students graduating from pharmacy school increased from $101,892 in 20096 to $163,494 in 2017”
  • “In 2016, the average pharmacist’s salary was $120,270. The average amount borrowed for a graduate in the class of 2016 was $157,425”