By Martha Kairis

Going back twenty years ago, there were many jobs that one could acquire without a college degree. In this generation it is nearly impossible to get a well paying job without at least a bachelor’s degree.

Yet, what’s the price for their education? A lifetime of student debt. Not only that, but the amount of debt accumulated by students is causing the United States economy to get worse.

After graduating many students won’t be able to buy a house or uphold businesses to provide for the economy. While it is the responsibility of the students to pay off their loans, there should be more support, especially for those who graduate and can’t acquire a job.

Government should raise funding for education and colleges should lower the tuition or diminish it completely. Depending on the action the government will take, student debt will significantly decrease and provide better support for the economy.

According to the institute for college access and success, “Seven in 10 seniors (69 percent) who graduated from public and nonprofit colleges in 2014 had student loan debt, with an average of $28,950 per borrower.”

Schools need to provide more scholarships so students won’t have to keep taking out loans just to get an education. I know in many countries, such as Germany, the taxpayers are the ones who pay for college tuition. Not the students.

More students would be inclined to attend college and having more educated students working is a benefit for everyone. Educating the future generations helps to insure the nation’s survival.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “Outstanding student loan debt in the United States lies between $902 billion and $1 trillion with around $864 billion in Federal student loan debt.”

Student debt takes up a significant portion of the country’s debt. The more money the banks allow to be loaned the more our economy goes down the drain. This causes slow economic growth, fewer jobs and rising interest rates.

I believe part of the problem is students not being informed of debts. Students should receive information regarding student loan debt, including information on consolidating debt, and increasing students’ information to both school’s default and graduation rates.

A few public colleges, like the University of Virginia, have raised money and provided most of their own funding to students.

According to Huff Post’s article “Why We Need to Reduce College Tuition,” “While only 5.6 percent of UVA’s funds come from the state, according to the university’s 2011-2012 financial report, most public universities largely depend on federal funding.”

If universities could somehow provide fundraisers and reach out to alumni to provide money it would help to cut down student tuition. However, I don’t think elite schools, such as Harvard, should be allowed endowments of close to a billion dollars. There should be one fund for all colleges across the nation to share equally so every school could have support in their funding.