Do you plan on taking out student loans while going to college? In fact, 70% of Americans do take out loans when going to college so it’s okay. But on the other side, most college students are not prepared for what’s coming after graduation. The average graduate student is accompanied by 100,000 dollars or less in debt and as a whole, we owe about 1.6 trillion dollars in student loans. So do you really think you’re prepared for paying off these debts?

A college education will eventually help us get a job in the real world which will help us pay off these loans. But it’s uncertain when you will get a job after college because when graduating from college, finding a steady stable job will not come to you instantly. Also on top of paying these loans, there are so many other necessities that also need to be paid for as well as insurance, rent, and food. 

Colleges do let you wait on paying off your loans and as soon as you graduate they will let you start paying them. Waiting to pay off these loans does alleviate some stress during the college years and I find that helpful for students because college seems to be a different ballpark than high school, like classes and whatnot. These classes will generate your future in what you will do in life so adding stress to yourself will prevent you from succeeding in college. 

We interviewed some fellow seniors and got their opinion on what they think of college debt and if they will use loans in college. Our first interviewee said this on if they will use loans for college or not ¨I am not 100% sure, but I think  I should stop spending money on less important things and start putting money down towards college debt and the college itself. ” This is important to start now as a kid to plan ahead and to help you later on maybe during college or after. Another person said they will need to rely on loans “My family doesn’t like it at all because we don’t have a lot of money for me to go to college so it’s pretty much gonna be me on my own”. This is the harsh reality of paying student loans because paying for them will usually not be co-dependent and will sometimes be paid alone from the kid and god knows how he or she will live after college.

I personally am planning on using loans for college and I still am sketchy about them. When reading a Forbes article the author said ¨As reported by CNBC, the average respondent says it takes 18.5 years to pay off student loans, from age 26 to age 45.¨ This struck me hard because I don’t want to be stuck with this debt for more than 5 years but now seeing the average being 18.5 years it scares me. This is why I assume most college kids will not prepare when the time comes around and paying off these loans will be a struggle for many kids attending college.