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With a national debt of $27 trillion and soaring, many students struggle to pay for a college education, an education that is vital for their success and growth in this fast-paced world. However, you may ask yourself, how does the national debt cause such a big impact on many students’ lives? How does it affect me personally and those around me? Well, I’ll tell you why. A failure to address our national debt will mean that the federal government will have a more challenging time investing in priories that encourage and drive economic growth, such as education, research, and scientific development.
This is evident right here right now. Because of the growing debt, the U.S. is facing a significant issue within education reform, and currently, many students are not getting the quality education and resources they deserve. This problem is further intensified by the fact that it primarily affects minority and low-income communities. These social groups are disproportionately affected by budget cuts, teacher disengagement, and lack of education development. During the 2019-2020 academic year, an estimated 14.61 million students enrolled in college with a national graduation rate of 33.3%, but many states fell below this average. Due to the lack of resources, whether it be monetary or educational, students are paying the cost.
Besides the limited resources that the national debt comes with, student debt is also added to the list. Today, roughly 70% of American students end up taking out loans to go to college. With this high number, it is not surprising that about 45 million owe $1.6 trillion in student loans, making it impossible to pay because of the struggle of daily life. An unstable economy makes borrowing more expensive, decreasing consumer confidence and discouraging cautious investors from taking a risk on the innovations we need the most. As someone who wants to achieve the “American Dream,” I can’t help but be concerned when I see these very high figures, especially when they predict that our serious debt problem will decrease the income of a four-person family by $16,000 in 2047.
You may be thinking, if this is a very prominent issue, why isn’t the government doing anything about it? I bet that if a group of determined college students with extremely diverse thought processes and political affiliations would sit down and thoughtfully address the challenge pertaining to our federal budget, they would come up with a decent solution that would alleviate the lives of many American citizens. So what is stopping our “mighty” policymakers? The key Why does partisanship dominate the Washington debates? Our policymakers need to turn off their ideological blinders and focus on protecting this country’s vitality by addressing our unsustainable fiscal trajectory.
