BY DESTINY BRADEN (’17)

College is supposed to be the building blocks of a person’s life, giving them the ability to acquire a successful job and support themselves. What college is not supposed to do is create an average of $20,000 of debt per student, which can take 15-20 years to pay back.

College prices are skyrocketing at an incredibly high rate, which leaves many parents and college students in financial shock.

Between 1982 and 2007, family income prices have raised an average of 147%, while college tuition prices have raised an average of 440%. The average cost of
a four-year graduate degree is $30,000. This is more than an average working
American makes in a year.

Are students who are newly out of a high school expected to have this money just chilling out in their piggy banks? These outrageously expensive college fees make it nearly impossible for students to pay for college many students are forced to use a student loan program, which eats at their meager paychecks for years.

Those oh so important college years can have students paying debts for over 2 decades. Eighty five percent of graduates are forced to move back in with their parents, because they cannot afford to live independently. Collectively, college graduates owe more than $1,000,000,000,000 in student loans. This is more than the value of the companies Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Groupon and Zynga combined.

It’s no surprise that college students are on a ramen noodle every night budget… just to cook at their education bills.