As a teenager I always wanted to study abroad in the US, anybody that has ever been, always comes back satisfied with their experience. We are taught at a very young age to go to school, study, get a degree, get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids and live 'a happy life.' But things aren't how they use to be. A few decades ago people could go to college for a fraction of what they are paying for it today. Not to mention a bachelor degree was worth much more back then compared to now. That made it easier for those who chose to go to college to not only pay for it but also to get a job afterwards. In today's day and age that is not how things work anymore, college tuition has risen to ridiculous heights and getting a loan is the only way people will be able to afford college. Not only have these degrees become more expensive to obtain, but also their return on investment has decreased due to it not being as valuable as back then. These overinflated tuition costs and faulty degrees have caused many students to default on their student loans. This trend of student loans being defaulted has been somewhat of a popular one among our youth and I believe that it is a ticking debt bomb, that is going to cause us to go into another recession. I am interested in student loan debt, because of obvious reasons; I am a student myself and I am paying for college with my student loan. I wanted to do research on how these loans affect not only other students but the economy as a whole. I myself had to make the same decision as my fellow peers, I have first hand experience when it comes to signing the papers, receiving the money and paying huge fees for college. I have done extensive research on the student debt crisis by collecting secondary data from three different articles and interpreting the information to draw my own conclusion.

In the first article Chris Denhart's who has worked at Center for College Affordability and Productivity which makes deems him a credible source who might have some biases and make him a bit more skeptical about universities, discusses how the increasing student debt crisis is hurting not only our youth but also their elders and the economy in a whole itself. On average a 4-year student accumulates $26.600 in debt and one in ten students graduate with a debt above $40.000. The federal debt is $16.7 trillion and of that 6% is student loan debt. 6% might seem like a small amount but when it comes to the federal debt and the fact that student loan debt is only on the rise, it brings dangers of slowing the economy down, which in turn can cause lose of jobs. Student debt hinders their own development in a variety of ways. Due to the high monthly payments you lose the chance of saving up for retirement, starting a business, starting a family or even pushes back when you want to invest into a home for yourself. 

In the second article Kathleen porter who is a blogger with no industry experience cites a lot of sources in her article in order to build credibility and seems quite optimistic about higher education, discusses the benefits of getting a 4-year-bachelor degree opposed to the opportunity cost of not going to college and getting a full-time job. The increasing costs of higher education have caused people to question the return on investment that higher education provides. On average a high school graduates earn an average of $1.2 million opposed to a bachelor's degree holder that earn about $2.1 million. Not only did she mention that the benefits of higher education only include a monetary difference, but also social and individual benefits such as, better consumer decision making, improved life of your offspring, more open-minded, more cultured, more rational and less authoritarian. More students attending college also increases tax revenue and productivity. The article was written in 2002, which makes it a bit outdated, but I believe the author made some good points of going to college and the benefits it has to the average consumer and society, but tuition has increased even more since she stated that it has been increasing, so you can see how the problem has only become worse and especially for low income households who already find it difficult to pay fees without incurring debt.             In the third article Matthew Chingos whose expertise is in student debt and has written multiple books, talks about how student debt continues to rise, but at the same time Americans are losing confidence in the value of a college degree. Research reveals that most students do not know how much debt they are incurring on themselves. Many students are choosing schools based off of their aesthetics and not on their quality and price. After mortgages, student loan debt ranks as second largest type of debt. This shows that the American higher education system and federal loan programs are are not working in favor of the student but more in favor of their stakeholder's wealth, that ultimately like the housing crash, can lead to far bigger issues.

This has been a very controversial topic for the past few years, some people claim that it comes down to human responsibility, where they shouldn't take out a loan they know they will not be ale to pay off. There are multiple ways to look at this debt crisis. I agree that people should pursue a college degree no matter what the cost. But I disagree with the leverage the universities have over us students. They are only seeking to maximize their student body, which in turn devalues the college degree, because of lenient requirement and simultaneously raising the costs of tuition. It is just a vicious cycle with two major beneficiaries. After conducting this research, I have formed new opinions about how trustworthy our educational system really is. I do not believe that my research question needs any revision. The only changes I would make to it is being a bit more specific and talk about which group it effects or what is will do to our economy.  

