Not every US citizen can afford quality education because of financial barriers. The resolution of the education inaccessibility is utilizing student loans that allow a large number of citizens to get an affordable and crucial degree. The outcomes demonstrate that, despite the fact that student loans offer financial aid, they can discourage the willing from learning or, eventually, deepen a debt gap, especially for female graduates.
One of the visible drawbacks of such a loan may be its obligatory return payments. Some scholars argue that student loans cause financial gaps and burdens, and others state that there is no such visible pressure (Akers & Chingos, 2016). Nonetheless, the society is concerned about the growing number of student loan debts that have reached $1.4 trillion and a possible crisis in which they might result (Akers & Chingos, 2016). The data demonstrate how loans cause applicants’ and students’ financial difficulties during and after the studying process and that students should obtain financial literacy to avoid exceeding expenses.
The overall effectiveness of student loans is widely disputed as the students continue to accumulate debts. The research by Herzog (2018) shows that the subsidized loans deter the students’ learning motivation, especially of those of low income. Another drawback of such a measure is the emerging inequity between loan returns of female and male students (Saleh, Leslie, & Seydel, 2017). The study by Saleh et al. (2017) discovered that, due to their lower salary, female graduates experience a higher level of student loan pressure than male graduates. Considering that the loans are a need for students of modest means mostly, these subsidies may appear insufficient and gender-unbalanced.
Summarizing, student loans aim to face the issue of educational inaccessibility in the US. The method allows citizens to become students, pursue a degree, and anticipate related to it highly-paid positions in the future. Nevertheless, the interest accrual causes considerable loan debts and discourages the youth, especially female students, from pursuing a degree. One of the solutions can be obtaining financial literacy and avoiding burdensome debts.
References
Akers, B., & Chingos, M. M. (2016). Game of loans: The rhetoric and reality of student debt. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Herzog, S. (2018). Financial aid and college persistence: Do student loans help or hurt? Research in Higher Education, 59(3), 273-301.
Saleh, A., Yu, Q., Leslie, S. H., & Seydel, J. (2017). Gender equity, student loans and returns on investment in American higher education. International Journal of Sociology of Education, 6(2), 216-243.