Jordan Buck didn’t have to wait long for his name to be called. The commencement ceremony was underway as Buck lined up among his anxious classmates on the Hamline campus. When Buck’s name was called, he walked confidently to the center stage and gripped his diploma with a smile on his face. His next steps off of the stage in front of hundreds of people were the steps into the next phase of his life — one full of larger responsibilities, such as paying off hefty student loans.
With the recent election of the new president, Donald Trump, new policies regarding higher education are brought to attention. According to nasfaa.org, Trump doesn’t plan to make college a debt-free experience, which is something that Hillary Clinton proposed in her campaign. This means that the burden of student loans will continue to pile up on students shoulders.
Katie Davidson, a senior at Augsburg college claims that her debt is overwhelming. “On top of graduation and finding a job, student debt is stressful.” Katie not only speaks for herself, but also on the behalf of many of her friends and classmates.
Tuition for Hamline University for 2016-2017 is $38,100, but there are scholarships and grants that can help lighten the payment. Academic scholarships range from $16,000 - $24,000, while other smaller scholarships can be applied for. Government aid such as the FAFSA also chips away at college tuition, but this may not be the case under the Trump presidency.
According to nasfaa.org, Trump wants to reduce and even eliminate government lending to students, because the government makes profits from it. He instead wants local banks to carry the responsibility of loaning money for college loans.
“These student loans are probably one of the only things that the government shouldn't make money from, and yet it does,” Trump said.
Many students also seek help from their parents to pay for college. In regards to college tuition, Davidson claims that she “wouldn’t know how to handle it without my parents,” who make small payments towards her education. Buck also received help from his parents, as he was able to spend a year living with them after college, which helped him save up money. Having help from parents is a luxury that not all college students have, however.
Statistics from Student Loan Hero show that the average student leaves college bearing $37,132 in loans, which is up six percent from the previous year. Trumps policies on student loans may make it even more difficult for students to obtain these loans. According to nasfaa.org, Sam Clovis, who is Trump's co-chair to the GOP, believes that loan worthiness should be determined by factors such as anticipated future earnings.
This student loan policy could be very beneficial for some, while restraining for others.
Students who have a major in the liberal arts would struggle more under this system, as their anticipated future earnings are more difficult to determine and often lower than someone who majors in something like engineering. Clovis notes that banks and colleges should be more careful when giving loans to liberal art majors because they are less likely to secure a job after college.
Buck was lucky enough to secure a stable job at 3M immediately after college, which helped him immensely with his student loans. “I didn’t have stress with debt,” Buck said in an email, rather it was a stress that stemmed from "wow, now it's time to really buckle down and move forward.'”
According to Student Loan Hero, the average monthly student loan payment totals to $351. Nasfaa.org states that in Trump’s plan, monthly payments would be capped off at 12 percent of the student’s income, with all debt being forgiven after 15 years. This means that those who don’t make as much immediately after college would have more manageable loan payments.
This would be very beneficial for some of Buck's friends, as they struggle to pay their debts off. Buck says that one of his best friends is getting married, and it’s extremely stressful for him to handle those costs on top of his astronomical student debt. Buck believes himself to be very lucky in landing such a good job and is very happy to not be stressed about his school debts.
“There was definitely some luck involved when it came to the job I landed,” Buck said in his email, “It was more money than I expected to be making at 24.”
