Why Are Student Loans So Hard To Pay Off?
Specifically in the United States
I’m almost done with my student loans. I have less than seven thousand left to pay off, and no interest owed.
I make my monthly payments automatically out of my account, and the numbers merrily tick on down. My parents help, but it’s not necessary; they’re being kind. I could pay it all off today if I wanted to.
I choose to keep my savings intact. Why bother? Like I said, no interest to worry about. My debt will keep going down no matter how much I put towards it every month. Within a couple of years, it’ll be done.
My spouse, who took out his loan for college in the United States when he was younger, is not so lucky. He has thirty thousand left to go, and an interest rate that keeps him on the back foot.
The system down there is so abominably predatory. I can’t believe y’all let them get away with it, just like I can’t believe you haven’t revolted over your gods-awful healthcare system.
It’s one of those consequences of unbridled capitalism that I can’t wrap my head around. Everything in the U.S. system seems to be designed to squeeze as much money as possibly out of every human being, as though we’re nothing but money farms.
Livestock for their bottom lines.
A person can’t live with the enormous, crushing debt cycle on top of the rising cost of living and no healthcare? Squeeze them until they die in the street and move on to the next.
Society benefits from a strong educational system. The doctor shortage both of our countries are experiencing right now proves how disastrous it is to price ordinary people out of college.
How many people out there would love to be a doctor, a nurse, an oncologist, a paramedic? How many people would love to work in agriculture science, in big tech, or in fields related to space exploration?
How many of them can’t because they can’t afford it? How many balk at the insane interest rate on student loans that would keep them from ever getting out of debt?
There’s a vicious cycle in America today. Pay an insane amount for tuition that requires an impossible loan. Try desperately to pay off the interest while your debt keeps increasing.
Hunt for a job in your field. Find out nobody is hiring. Wind up in minimum wage work, which is unsteady at best and doesn’t pay enough for you to dig out of the hole — hell, it barely pays for your room and board!
If you’re a person from a marginalized community, it gets even worse. There’s discrimination everywhere, in hiring, in loans, in renting. Everywhere. And if you can’t pay your student loans, well, depending on the holder of the loan they can even garnish your already shitty wages.
As a kid, everyone tells you that you need college to get a good job and build a good life. You face incredible pressure to get a good post-secondary education. If you can’t afford it, just get a loan — everyone does. My parents pushed me to.
That works out better for us in Canada, though. My low-income status meant my tuition was totally covered at the government school I attended. I had a full bursary that didn’t need to be paid back.
The loans I took were totally voluntary, used to pay for the materials and equipment I needed to learn to be a jeweller. In the end I think I owed around $11,000 at the end of my schooling. I started paying it back while I was still in school, when I got a bit of income.
My parents helped later. I’m grateful for the assistance. Part way through my repayment period, my province announced that the government would no longer charge interest on student loans, which completely removed any interest I owed.
So, I don’t need to worry about rising debt. As long as I keep my payments running, my loan ticks down. I will soon be debt free, and then my spouse and I will be turning our attention to his debt instead.
That’ll be the pain in the ass, in truth. But we’ll manage.
Not everyone is as lucky as us. Frankly, we’re all suffering for it.
Solidarity wins.