As a teenager I always wanted to study abroad in the US. Anyone 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. Affordable education 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 local and international students will be able to afford college. Not only have these degrees become more expensive to obtain, but also their return on investment has decreased. 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 caused by universities themselves. I am interested in the abuse of university power over students, because I am an international student and I am paying for college with my student loan. I want to do research on university power and not only how that affects local and international students, but also their economies as a whole. I myself had to make the same decision as my fellow peers. I have first hand experience when it comes to choosing to study abroad, signing the papers, receiving the money and paying huge fees for college. I have done extensive research on the leverage universities have on us. I have collected secondary data from three different articles and interpreted the information to draw my own conclusion.

In the first article Chris Denhart 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 a loss 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 Tim Mazzarol and Geoffrey N. Soutar who are both well educated graduates present multiple studies and researches done to build credibility. They discuss the reasons why international students study abroad either in the US or anywhere else. They claim that the number of international students seeking higher education in the US have declined. In most part this is due to the rising cost of US universities and improvements in their local education system. One of the groups that are most effected by this rise in cost are in fact international students. There are a lot of aspects to consider when it comes to international students. Examples such as currency exchange rates, traveling costs and out-of-state tuition. These students who mostly come from developing countries with the hopes of getting a high quality education are now faced with even more pressure. This pressure is caused by the rising costs and the devaluation of the bachelor degree. These students return to their countries with debt up to their necks and a undervalued degree.

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 able to afford. There are multiple ways to look at this abuse of power. 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. These universities only seek to maximize profit by maximizing their student body no matter what the aftermath. In order to maximize student body, they make college easy to get into with lenient requirements, which in turn devalues the degree these students are working hard to get. 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 this paper is to add more sources pertaining to the topic of international students.

