College Graduates Suffering From Excessive Financial...

â€Å"Over the past decade, the total volume of outstanding student loan debt has tripled and is now over $1 trillion† (Jaquette and Hillman). This alarming trend illustrates the immediate need to address the issue of college graduates suffering from excessive financial burden as a result of student loan debt. According to Ozan Jaquette, Ph.D., assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Educational Policy and Practice, and Nick Hillman, Ph.D., assistant professor of Educational Leadership Policy Analysis, â€Å"When borrowers default, they face a wide range of additional penalties, including lower credit scores, garnishing of wages and tax refunds, and the payment of collection agency fees.† Not all graduates are faced the†¦show more content†¦College enrollment skyrocketed as a direct result of the expansion of financial aid programs. Initially, the federal government’s involvement was restricted to providing financial aid to veteran s pursuing higher education. By 1965, the federal government solidified its involvement within the realm of student financial aid by enacting the Higher Education Act. Title IV of the Act provided for â€Å"a guaranteed loan program that carried with it the full promise of the U.S. government to repay private lenders if a student defaulted on their loan.† The creation of this title lead to the creation of government subsidies, and eventually subsidized loans (Fuller). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a subsidy is defined as â€Å"a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public.† The greater the amount of subsides that the government pays to lending institutions, the greater the guarantee that those lending institutions will continue to provide financial assistance to borrowers. Private lending institutions are guaranteed to turn a profit as a result of government subsidies, even if borrowers d efault on their loans. In the 2010 State of the Union Address to Congress, Obama asked the Senate and House to work together in executing a new bill that would â€Å"revitalize community colleges.† President Obama then said, â€Å"To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the