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student loan debt crisis

The Mounting Student Loan Crisis

You are here: Home / Archive / Feature Stories / The Mounting Student Loan Crisis
Published: December 12, 2021 by VPR Producer

Federal student loan debt has ballooned in recent years. In 2007, debt totaled $642 billion dollars. Fourteen years later, this number has risen to nearly $1.7 trillion. More than 43 million Americans have student loan debt, with the average person owing around $39,000.

With payments on student loans expected to restart early next year after an almost two-year freeze due to the pandemic, will more people struggle to pay back what they’ve taken out? What should students know before heading to college? How do we address the looming student loan debt crisis as a whole?

People are taking longer and longer to pay back their debt. Because they owe so much on the front end, it’s taking them so much longer to pay it back. And so…what’s happened is student loans have become…like a 30 year mortgage, where instead of paying it back in ten years, you’re spending 20, 25, 30 years, even longer sometimes to pay back your student loans. So, what used to be a ten year obligation is now an obligation that is going to stick around for many people’s adult lives and into retirement.

Josh Mitchell, Wall Street Journal

Josh Mitchell, a reporter who covers student loan debt and economics for The Wall Street Journal, explains the current state of affairs: “People are taking longer and longer to pay back their debt… They owe so much on the front end, it’s taking them so much longer to pay it back.”

“And so…student loans have become…like a 30 year mortgage, where instead of paying it back in ten years, you’re spending 20, 25, 30 years, even longer sometimes to pay back your student loans. So, what used to be a ten year obligation is now an obligation that is going to stick around for many people’s adult lives and into retirement.”


Guest Information:

  • Josh Mitchell, student debt and economics reporter for The Wall Street Journal; Author of The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe.
  • Dr. Laura Perna, professor of education, vice provost for faculty, Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania; Executive Director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (AHEAD).

Links for more info:

  • Student Debt and the Federal Budget: How Student Loans Impact the U.S. Fiscal Outlook – Bipartisan Policy Center
  • The Debt Trap | Book by Josh Mitchell | Official Publisher Page – Simon & Schuster
  • Josh Mitchell (@JMitchellWSJ) – Twitter profile
  • Laura W. Perna – Faculty at University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
  • “Student Loan Payment Pause Ends In 60 Days, As Advocates Push For Cancellation. Here’s The Latest.” – Forbes
Program #: 21-50segment type: Feature StoriesTopics - College and Admissions| Debt| Economics and Finance| Education| Government and Politics| Inflation| Law/Policy and Enforcement| News and Journalism| Personal Finance| Public Policy| Retirement| Societal Issues| Student Loans and Financial AidGuests - Dr. Laura Perna| Josh MitchellBooks & Publications - The Debt Trap| The Wall Street JournalInstitutions - Bipartisan Policy Center| Graduate School of Education| University of Pennsylvaniatagged with - Amirah Zaveri| author| cost| faculty| financial crisis| Gary Price| higher education| Jason Dickey| professor| reporter
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About VPR Producer

Since 2000, Viewpoints Radio has been bringing listeners the relevant information they crave in current events, literature, entertainment and more. Both Viewpoints Radio and sister show Radio Health Journal are productions of AURN.

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