In today’s society, teens are often told early on that they need to go to college in order to make a good living. As more people have begun graduating from college, the lure of graduate school is being complicated by students’ burden of undergraduate debt.
According to a 2014 study done by Pew Research, 37 percent of young households in 2010 had outstanding student loans which equals about $13,000, 15 percent more than they had in 2001 and double the amount they had in 1989. This debt is making it harder for those with a college education to get started with their professional lives after graduation.
Those that are college educated and have no student debt tend to have a net worth that is seven times greater than those with student debt. This amount is about $64,700 for those with no debt to $8,700 for those with debt according to the 2014 study.
For some students, starting grad school with any debt is not an appealing option. Hailey Dykstra, ’16, had a lot of factors go into her decision to wait to continue on after her undergrad completion. “I will have to wait a few years to get rid of some of my debt because grad school is a huge life decision. I am also at an age where I am about to get married and have to plan for that as well so I want to make sure that grad school is right for me.”
“I need to make sure that I’m not acquiring these loans just to end up stuck in a few years. The field I am going into is hard on you emotionally and it is important to get experience and learn if you can do that. But going in with debt and not making it through the program would be detrimental to my future,” said Dykstra.
It is more difficult for new graduates to find good jobs. It was found that in 2012, 44 percent of graduates worked in positions that did not require a college education. However, graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher still out-earn those with a two-year degree, those with some college but did not finish and those without a degree at all.
Even with these findings, 91 percent of all graduates and 88 percent of millennials believe that going to college was worth it. Those with degrees higher than a bachelor’s were even more likely to say that their education paid off, 96 percent compared to 89 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree.
Even with all of the negativity surrounding student debt, there are benefits that go beyond how much somebody earns. Millennials with a bachelor’s degree are more likely to be married and are less likely to be unemployed, living in poverty or living at home compared to those with lower degrees, according to an article titled “6 Key Findings About Going to College.”
So, the question is: Are people less likely to go to grad school or a higher program due to their student debt? It really depends on the person and the field they are going into whether their debt stops them from pursuing the extra education.
Students like Brooke Harp, ’16, say sometimes the decision to wait for grad school is dependent on the career path. “I plan to go to grad school but not for a couple years, not because of the debt but because of the career I’m going into as an education major. It’s better to get a couple years of experience prior to actually going to grad school.”
“Also, if you get a master’s degree the school is required to pay you more so schools tend to not hire first-years who already have it so it is important that you wait to get your master’s until you already have a job,” said Harp.
Nicole Arient, assistant director of graduate program admissions, agreed saying that it is easier to get a job and apply for grad school later because some jobs will pay for their workers to continue their education, it all depends on the field and the company that a person goes into.
