Kaylee Rucker English 102 Summary Essay January 19, 2017 Student Debt: Not too Detrimental
Have student loans become too much to be considered helpful but instead a life sentence? In Robin Wilson’s article entitled “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely,” he discusses how most students do not have as much debt as is portrayed. Wilson covers the topic of the students who have outrageous debt and how they have came to that position. In the article,Wilson addresses how students are determined to go to their favorite school despite the cost, are uneducated about how they could pay off loans in the future, and can usually live comfortably while paying off their loans.
Students finding themselves in more-than-average student loan debt is usuallydue to their lack of attention to costs and only focusing on attending their “dream college.” Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid, explains, “People don’t pay attention to the debt. They want to be able to pay for the school they have wanted to go to for as long as they can remember, and they are willing to do whatever it takes” (qtd. in Wilson 258). In making this comment, Kantrowitz urges students to think about what they are doing before spending high amounts of money just to go to a certain school that they like. The issue of having high debt is not true in all cases. The average debt among the 65 percent of college graduates in debt is $20,000 (257). Eight percent of graduates owe $40,000, which is double the average debt (257). Students who pay attention to the costs don’t have extreme debt.
Many students having outlandish amounts of debt could also be a result of these students being uneducated about student loans and not having the guidance to figure out that their future job will not pay enough to pay off their loans. Wilson emphasizes, “It is no one’s job to talk to students about whether the amounts they are borrowing line up with their professional aspirations or even their immediate job prospects” (264). Basically, Wilson is warning students to take into consideration what job they are trying to get and think about if they will be able to pay off their student loans with their salary. Darla M. Horn is a perfect example of this issue. She admits to not thinking through what she was doing before getting $75,000 worth of student loans in three years (263). Experiences like Ms. Horn’s are fairly common.
After students take out outrageous loans, the problems become how they live and how they use the opportunities given to them through the education they bought. The students that prioritize their money will have a much better chance of paying their loans off sooner. Robert A. Sevier, senior vice president at Stamats Inc. declared, “People live outside their means” (qtd. in Wilson 266). That, however, does not depict all, or even most, college graduates, Wilson admits. Robert Carter is a prime example of the students who learn to adapt to what they are given. Carter is aware that he could have had less loans if he would have attended a different university yet he does not regret his decisions (267). Carter and his wife are tight with their money and still live comfortably.
In “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely,” Robin Wilson goes over the many different discussions and stories of people with student-loan debt. Student debt can get out of hand at times, but college loans do not have to ruin anybody’s lives if taken out responsibly. Wilson makes it clear that students can occasionally not choose a college based on finances, are unaware of how to budget to pay off their loans, and it is entirely possible to pay off college loans while living a good life.
Works Cited Graff, Gerald et al. “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely.” "They Say / I Say": the Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, with Readings, W.W. Norton &Amp; Company, New York, 2017.