One of the unfortunate realities of the modern education system is the fact that post-graduation is not solely a time for celebration. While it is stressful enough to deal with the issue of a continuously shrinking job pool, most students also incur thousands upon thousands of dollars of loans that they have to start paying back no sooner than the graduation cap has landed on the floor. According to the The Institute for College Access and Success, in 2012, 71 percent of students graduating for a regular four-year college or university had accrued some sort of academic loan debt. In 2014, seven in 10 students who had just graduated did so with average debt of $28,950. Average debt levels also increased a whopping 25 percent from 2008 to 2012.
For those of us who have ever taken out a loan, filled out the lengthy FAFSA or applied for some other sort of aid, those numbers might seem far beyond what we believe could possibly accrue. But the problem is that financial loans, especially when used to cover tuition and on-campus living expenses, add up fast during a four- or five-year stint at any university. And what’s more, most students who are independent, pay for their own living costs and require federal aid will not be able to make sufficient payments until they graduate. Whether the loan is subsidized or unsubsidized, the amount to payoff is magnanimous compared to the pay grade most recent college graduates are entering.
However, it is far too ambitious a goal to entirely erase the current and inevitable future debt of students across the country. What should be implemented, especially at the U, is a course on how students can manage their finances and deal with debt, student loans and the imminent onslaught of interest and payments sure to hit them post-grad.
At the U, we are required to take general education courses, which range from music to math. But what is not enforced is another extremely crucial spectrum of education — life management. Whether or not it is phrased as a required tutorial or an entire class, the U should not just make available, but make contingent upon every student to learn and understand basic finance options, especially in the sphere of overcoming debt and comprehending the implications of financial loans. This is not to say the financial aid department is not helpful in answering questions, but many of the questions asked are ones that young adults should already have an answer to. A vague definition of interest and debt from high school and Google as a stand-in finance professor is not sufficient to create students and future graduates who are capable of taking the initiative to exercise control of their finances — past, present and future.