A Survey of Student Debt - Essay Example

? A SURVEY DEBT By Lecturer: of Affiliation: and A Survey Debt Introduction The number of students currently holding student debt is increasing tremendously in many higher learning institutions across the globe. The debtors are concentrated in the younger segment of the population; thus more than 60 percent of the total loans are given to students between ages of 18 to 35.Therefore, the student loan debts has become the norm for many families and young people seeking higher education. This is because the significant of the college graduate degrees, which continues to grow significantly as the tuition fee, also continues to rise; hence, the signs for the continued growth in the numbers of borrowers and amount of loans borrowed. The main goal of the project is to design a pragmatic survey addressing varied sociological questions about student debt. Student Debt Survey: Questions Student Debt Survey This survey is designed in order to gain a better understanding of the student loan debt experience in higher education levels. Therefore, participation is voluntary and it is an anonymous survey; thus the identity of participants will not be disclosed. Thank you for setting time aside to complete this survey. Demographics 1. Gender: Male Female 2. Age: 18-22 23-27 28-32 33 + 3. Are you an international student? Yes No 4. Do you have any part time or full time job? Yes No If yes, please provide all clear reasons that apply to: i. Financial needs ii. Work experience iii. Academic studies iv. Specify others: 5. Which ones among the following offer the main source of funding for your tuition fees? i. Bank loans ii. Loans from relatives or parents v. Scholarships or bursaries vi. Personal savings vii. Student loans viii. Others: 6. How are you funding your accommodations or any other living expenses in the college? i. Loan from parents? ii. Student loans iii. Credit cards iv. Salaries from paid summer jobs v. Parents or relatives money vi. Bank loans vii. Others: 7. If your parents or relatives, partners or any others are helping you financially, then, do you feel under great pressure to work or what are you opinions? 8. Do you face any challenges in accessing student loans or are there any barriers to accessing financial aid? 9. Did you read the contract carefully before taking your students loan and do you worry about your student debt? 10. Do you think the student loan terms could be changed in future in case the government lowers salaries when you have started to make loan repayments? 11. Do you think the current education system of funding higher education is a better or wrong one? If wrong, what actions or recommendations will you make to change it? 12. Do you know the amount of money you will owe the debtors by the time you finish your higher education? 13. Do you think that what are getting from attending higher education is worth for what is costing you to study? 14. Do you feel confident that your study will open the door to a better paying job in the future? 15. Do students and parents have any significant knowledge about the cost of financial aid? 16. How does the awareness and expectations about higher education affordability and financial aid affect college going behavior? 17. Which one among the following statements will you say applies to you? a) I understand the value of higher education; thus I work hard in my academic studies? b) I always don’t miss any lecture unless I am sick. c) I am always focused on my academic studies. d) Others: 18. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? a) The student loan does not seem valid to me b) Student loan debts are not like any other debts c) Student loan repayment will not make any difference to my living standards. d) Others: Discussions of the Sample The sample for the majority of the respondents fell into varied categories including females and males ageing from the age of 18 and above. The majority of respondents were students taking varied university programs and those who have received varied student loans. Nearly all the respondents were among the students who relied on student loans while the majority relied on the support from parents and relatives. The research employed sampling survey method and questionnaires were distributed to varied students in varied faculties for self completion of questions. The final data were collected after one week for further analysis and discussions. The issue of student debt on participation in higher education has been of a great concern in many states. The research study report indicates that in 2010, about two thirds of graduating college seniors left learning institutions with student loan debt (Drezner, 2013, p. 16). Many students and parents lack adequate knowledge to accurate estimate for higher education costs. The research indicates that the ever increasing college costs have contributed to increase the need for financial aid, which is critical for increasing college access and success (Institute for College Access & Success, 2008, p. 1 and Eckel, Johnson, Montmarquette & ROJAS, 2007, p. 233). There have been a significant increase in student loans debt but these rates remain uneven among varied groups of students. Voigt (2007, p. 97) found out that one of the significant factors predicting the increasing take up for student loans is the use of commercial credit cards. The research evidence indicates that students are more likely to get student loans due to increasing use of commercial credit cards (Dowd, 2008, p. 232). Discussions of the Questionnaires From the research Questions, it was found that the student loans is among the highest percentage of funding tuition fee for students in higher education. Although many students receive scholarship or fee bursaries and other loans from relatives, personal savings and money from partners, many students rely on student loans. Moreover, the higher percentages of students fund their accommodations and living expenses through student loans and parents/ guardians or relative’s money to help. Therefore, many students feel guilty about the financial sacrifices their parents or relatives offer them; thus they feel under great pressure to work hard. The research indicated that many students studying in universities involve in part time or full time jobs but most of these jobs are unpaid. They perform unpaid jobs in order to acquire future work experience and others revealed that the unpaid work leaves them with too little time for academic studies. Even though others receive payment, it is little and it cannot satisfy their financial needs. The research study indicated that many students take their time to read the contract only without taking much of their time to read carefully the small print. Many of them get worried about their student debt and this is in case they fail to secure better paying jobs. Although students are aware of the repayment terms specified in the student loan contract, the majority are aware that the terms of the loans that they signed might be altered in future whereas others are unaware of the alterations. Saez (2009, p. 3) argues that many students are accumulating high levels of debts without understanding how to manage their finance; thus contributing to higher amount of debts. Furthermore, many students have never made significant efforts to calculate the amount of money they will owe the debtors by the time they will finish their studies. From the survey questions, it was revealed that despite the costing or study expenses, many students feel that what they are getting from attending higher learning institutions is worth. The higher percentage of the respondents revealed that they are confident that their varied courses will open up the door to better paying jobs in future. Therefore, many of them work hard and they rarely miss lectures unless one is sick. Students understand the value of higher education because it prepares them for job markets while other argued that it offers them significant knowledge and skills, as well as, also reduces social inequalities in the society. Cheng (2011, p. 71) argues that students loans have helped many students to achieve their demanding needs; thus it is through students loans that many individuals have been able to get a chance to excel in future no matter their social, gender, religion background among others. The research indicated that many students and parents lack significant knowledge about the cost of financial aid. Many research studies have attempted to examine the relationship between students’ attitudes towards debt and the decision to join higher education. According to these studies, the previous research survey conducted revealed that low social classes are more debt reluctant that higher social classes and this seems to deter students from low classes in joining universities (Callender and Jackson, 2005, p. 509: Callender and Jackson, 2008, 405). Moreover, many students face challenges in accessing loans; thus deterring them from joining higher education levels. Therefore, it is significant to take actions and one of the recommendable ways is to join the public university campaigns and participate in demonstrations. This is crucial because it can enable the government to take significant reforms in the current education system. Bibliography Callender, C., & Jackson, J. (2005). Does the Fear of Debt Deter Students from Higher Education? Journal of Social Policy. 34, 509-540. Callender, C., & Jackson, J. (2008). Does the Fear Of Debt Constrain Choice Of University and Subject Of Study? Studies in Higher Education. 33, 405-429. Cheng, B. (2011). Student Loans in China Efficiency, Equity, And Social Justice. Lanham, MD, Lexington Books. Drezner, N. D. (2013). Expanding The Donor Base In Higher Education Engaging Non- Traditional Donors. New York, Routledge. Dowd, A. C. (2008). Dynamic Interactions and Intersubjectivity: Challenges to Causal Modeling in Studies of College Student Debt. Review of Educational Research. 78, 232-259. Eckel, C., Johnson, C., Montmarquette, C., & ROJAS, C. (2007). Debt Aversion and the Demand for Loans for Postsecondary Education. Public Finance Review. 35, 233-262. Institute For College Access & Success. (2008). Paving the Way: How Financial Aid Awareness Affects College Access and Success. Literature Review. Institute for College Access & Success, 1-27. Voigt, K. (2007). Individual Choice And Unequal Participation In Higher Education. Theory and Research in Education. 5, 87-112. Saez, E.M. (2009). Cashless College: Credit Card Debt Among College Students and the Leadership Role of Academic Institutions. University of Phoenix, ProQuest Publishers. Read More