Student Loan Debt
Introduction: The tuition fee has dramatically increased over the years in higher education facilities in the United States of America. This has resulted in a considerable number of students taking a loan to be able to attain higher education. Although students have obtained the loan and subsequently studied a higher education program, the problem is that most of the student loan debt has not been cleared. Further, bestowing to the credit reporting agency Experian, the sum of outstanding student loans increases annually, and as of 2019, it was 1.41 trillion (Itzkowitz 15). The solution to reducing the debt is increasing tax on the upper class.
Opposition: Increasing the tax to pay for education tuition is not viable as the healthcare costs keep rising. Besides, opposers believe students need to work for their money rather than being handed freely. Others view this as a waste because a significant number of students drop out of college.
Context of opposition: According to Velez (2014), approximately 40% of higher education students do not earn a degree for a course program of six years, and many tend to discontinue the program.
My Position: Higher education should be guaranteed to everyone as the benefits outweigh the costs to society. However, the skyrocketing of tuition fees has made students seek loans and many not to attend higher education.
Context of my Position: It has been reported that the average cost of tuition fees has increased by over 500% from 1975 to 2015 (Langelett et al. 113).
Benefits: Opposers believe that students need to “earn their keep,” while I see it right that the government should offer fundamental needs like education. Due to these differences, the compromise is through the government absorbing temporary more of students with loans and deducting a considerable amount of their income salary to repay the loan.
Works Cited
Langelett, George, et al. “Elasticity of demand for tuition fees at an institution of higher education.” Journal of higher education policy and management 37.1 (2015): 111-119.
Velez, E. D. (2014, January). America’s College Drop-Out Epidemic: Understanding the Drop-Out Population. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.caldercenter.org/sites/default/files/WP-109-Final.pdf
Itzkowitz, Michael. “The state of American higher education outcomes in 2019.” Third Way, Apr 8 (2019).