College debt in the United States is over $1.2 trillion dollars according to USA Today. There are over 7 million debtors in default. We need to change how we handle higher education. This paper outlines how YOU can make a difference in the amount of debt accumulated by students in the United States, and how you can avoid being part of the statistics.
According to collegedata.com the average cost to attend college is $24,061 a year. This is a lot of money. The price includes tuition, fees, room & board, books, transportation, and personal expenses. If a student starts saving their final summer to pay for college, they will incur a lot of debt. This is the problem faced by our nation. Some students are looking for help from the government to pay for their schooling. Something that students could do instead is start saving at a younger age. In no way will this harm them. If they decide not to go to college they will have money in the bank to pursue whatever their dream is.
Over four years, on average, a student will incur almost $100,000 to get their degree. That is a crushing debt to have when you’re just starting out in life. A way to lower that would be to start working, and saving for college early on. The following is an outline on what a 14 year old would have to do to make about half of the money they need at the age of 18.
The student would have 8 years to pay for college. On average they would have to earn $12,500 a year. Obviously a 14 year old kid can’t make that in one year. However, they could make about $4,000 in a year. To do this a 14 year old would have to work on average 10 hours a week at $7.25 an hour. At the age of 15, the student could work to make about $6,250. This would mean that the student works an average of 15 hours a week at $8 an hour. At the age of 16 the student could work to make about $10,400. This would mean that the student works an average of 25 hours a week, at the same $8 an hour. At the age of 17 the student repeats what they did at 16. This is to account for any shortcomings in the previous years. At 18 the student will work an average of 40 hours a week. Let’s say that after four years of working the student now makes $8.25 an hour. This means the student will make about $17,000.
From the ages of 14-18 the student will make approximately $48,050. This is just under half of what they will need to pay for college. It could be over half if they stay home at a local college for the first year. Having this money saved would also wipe out lots of interest that would have accumulated on the loan taken out to pay for those first two years of college.
College debt is over $1.2 trillion dollars, with over 7 million debtors in default. There are many things that need to be changed about our higher education system, but I think the solutions begin with hard work, not the government. To earn the $48,050 would of course take lots of work, and sacrifices would need to be made. The question is are the sacrifices worth it to earn your degree, and not add to the statistics?
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