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Any amount of debt is a burden that takes a toll on your well being. Somehow at such a young age of 17 or 18 you have to know exactly what you want from life or even who you are and its a social norm just take on mind boggling debt that takes years to pay back. Its unfortunate that this is days normal but the best way to avoid being just another statistic here is to educate yourself on money and save just as hard as you work.

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Any amount of debt is a burden that takes a toll on your well being. Somehow at such a young age of 17 or 18 you have to know exactly what you want from life or even who you are and its a social norm just take on mind boggling debt that takes years to pay back. Its unfortunate that this is days normal but the best way to avoid being just another statistic here is to educate yourself on money and save just as hard as you work.

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Student loan debt is crippling, even to those who have a plan, and know the ins and outs of their loan. Many people don't have this knowledge. I think there should be a course in high school that teaches students about loans or even just money in general. These statistics show that many students are money illiterate, and don't know how to handle it.

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Student loan debt is crippling, even to those who have a plan, and know the ins and outs of their loan. Many people don't have this knowledge. I think there should be a course in high school that teaches students about loans or even just money in general. These statistics show that many students are money illiterate, and don't know how to handle it.

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The Website of the Government of Canada offers services for students struggling with their debt. Repayment assistance and resources to reduce monthly payments are available. Repayment options allow students to not be required to pay more than 20% of their income each month, although they must reapply and be accepted again every 6 months.

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Please read our latest notices:

Having trouble making a payment

If you are having trouble making a payment, you have options:

Missing a payment will negatively affect your credit.

Contact us to discuss options

Whether you have missed a loan payment or not, contact us to discuss options to help you get back on track:

Getting your loan out of collection

If you have missed 9 months of payments, your federal student loan will be sent to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for collection. Once in collection, you are no longer able to get student aid. To be able to get student aid again, you must bring your loan up to date.

Contact the CRA to make a payment arrangement and bring your loan up to date.

For the provincial or territorial part of your student loan, you will need to contact your province of permanent residence. For borrowers from Saskatchewan you may contact the CRA for both federal and provincial parts of your student loan.

Rehabilitate your Canada Student Loan

If your loan is in collection, you may be eligible to bring your Canada Student Loan up to date. To do so, contact the CRA to see if you are eligible to rehabilitate your federal student loan. Make payments equal to two regular monthly payments and choose one of the following options:

1. Pay off all outstanding interest on your loan, or

2. Add all unpaid interest to the balance of your loan. You will receive a new payment schedule for the new balance.

Note: The option to add the unpaid interest to the balance of your loan can only be done once.

Once you make your payments, call the NSLSC and ask to speak with a Canada Student Loans Program agent. You should receive a new repayment plan within one month.

Bankruptcy doesn't erase student loans during the first 7 years

Be aware: if you file for bankruptcy within seven years of finishing your studies, your Canada Student Loan won't be cancelled. You will have to continue paying back your Canada Student Loan.

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Repay a student loan - Can't repay your loan

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Please read our latest notices: If you are having trouble making a payment, you have options: Missing a payment will negatively affect your credit. Whether you have missed a loan payment or not, contact us to discuss options to help you get back on track: If you have missed 9 months of payments, your federal student loan will be sent to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for collection.

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Which Canadians may struggle the most to pay off their student loans? | Watch News Videos Online

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Watch Which Canadians may struggle the most to pay off their student loans? Video Online, on GlobalNews.ca

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Why are Canadians struggling so much to pay off their student debts.

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Why are Canadians struggling so much to pay off their student debts.

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Student loans are the problem almost everyone has but its a topic that not enough people talk about it. In this video the lady became 100,000 grand in debt from taking various classes and although this is more of an extreme case almost all canadians experience 5 digit debt. With the very materialistic world we live in where everyone wants it and wants it now rather then saving and working hard for it most just borrow the money. If student debt, how to avoid it, how to pay it off and being smart with money i am afraid to say there will be many more young graduates joining in the 5 and 6 digit debt just to get an education "everyone needs" to obtain a good paying job.

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STUDENT LOAN DEBT Repayment Options (Canada)

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Some Canadians living in Ontario do not know what website to go back to because it's not the OSAP website. This video is a great tutorial that demonstrate to you how to pay back your student debt and after watching viewers will also be reminded of how important saving during your 6 month grace period because avoiding interest should be a priority for every graduating because the grace will disappear before you know it.

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In this video Tajai Copeland shares his story of how he is in the process of repaying 20,000$ worth of student debt. When he shares his schedule, he says he has to wake up at 4:00am, and doesn't get back after school and work until 1:00am the next day.
He also says one summer, he worked a full time job and 2 part time jobs, just to pay for tuition that year. It's unreasonable that anyone should have to work this much just to be able to afford education.

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In today's expensive world it's almost if you choose to avoid this sentence you will be hindered for the rest of your life because you will  be unable to obtain your career of choice. With inflation rate going up faster then the wages you obtain from a debt sentence it's no wonder so many Canadians are weeks away from loosing their homes. So no wonder so much debt is racked up because if you don't commit to spending loads of money society shall look at you oh so differently.

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After reading this article and seeing the graphs %'s and the stories this site had to offer i really appreciate and respect all the individuals that overcome student debt especially all the hard working woman because statistically they have more debt then men. I also feel this clarifies the debt sentence since this on going problem is currently getting worse on a steady basis. I guess this is why so many adults have so much debt because its you have known from being a young adult.

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Student debt insolvencies on the rise

Student debt in Canada is in a crisis. We say this because we see the negative consequences of more and more young people taking on student loans, in higher amounts. In 2018, student debt contributed to more than 1 in 6 (17.6%) insolvencies in Ontario ¹, a record rate since we began our study nine years ago. Extrapolate this Canada-wide, and that means that roughly 22,000 ex-students filed insolvency in 2018 to deal with their student debt.

That may not seem like a lot but put in perspective with the number of student loan borrowers in relation to the overall population, the young age of these borrowers, and the relative health of the economy in recent years, and it is an epidemic.

In this report, we take an in-depth look at the student loan crisis in Canada and the profile of the average insolvent student debtor. We explore who are defaulting on their student loan debt and why they are filing insolvency at an increasing rate.
Note: In Canada, consumer insolvencies include both personal bankruptcy and a consumer proposal, both student debt forgiveness options under the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act.
Student debt in Canada

It's hard to get a handle on the amount of student debt outstanding in Canada. As of the 2016/2017 school year, Canada Student Loans (CSL) was administering a portfolio ² of $18.2 billion dollars in loans to more than 1.7 million borrowers.

In 2016/2017, Canada Student Loans disbursed $2.6 billion in loans to 490,401 students. While loan disbursements dipped in the most recent year, over the past ten years, CSL has disbursed 47% more in loans to 31% more students than in the previous ten years.

However, on top of the federal government guaranteed loan program, graduates are also financing their studies through additional provincial student loans and private loans.

For students in full-time study in participating jurisdictions, approximately 60% of their CSL assessed financial need is funded by the Government of Canada through federal student loans, while the province or territory covers the remaining 40%. How much is in loans, and how much is grants, varies by province based on political objectives. In Ontario in 2017/2018 for example, OSAP funded ³ almost $1.7 billion in financial aid, only $200 million of which was repayable loans, with the remainder being grants. The year before funding of just over $1 billion was split 60% grants and 40% loans.

Private student loans are another matter, no-one reports on how much is out there.

A National Graduates Survey ⁴, conducted by Statistics Canada, revealed that while government loans are the most common source of debt for students, 27% of graduates from the class of 2009-2010 used only non-government loans and 25% relied on both government student debt and non-government debt.

While the average undergraduate completed university with an average debt load of $26,300 in 2010, if students supplemented government student debt with a student credit card, bank loan or student line of credit, their average debt balances upon graduation ballooned to $44,200. That means that the average student using private loans on top of their government-guaranteed loans increased their debt load by 68% through private lenders.

Rising tuition contributing to insolvencies

The average undergraduate tuition for a Canadian university ⁵ is now $6,838, and tuition has risen at an annual rate of 3.7% over the past ten years. In Ontario, the average tuition is now $8,838, up an average 4.6% per year over the past ten years. And this is before compulsory fees, costs of books, school supplies, and residence.

Much of the cost of post-secondary education is being financed by student loans. Despite the introduction of the Canada Education Savings Grant program and tax-sheltered RESPs, over 40% of post-secondary students ⁴ finance their education through loans - either government-guaranteed Student Loans or private student debt. This number rises to 50% for university undergraduates.

The issue is that this debt lingers. Only 34% of bachelor graduates had fully paid off their student loans three years after graduation. According to Canada Student Loans, students typically take between nine and 15 years to pay off their student loans in full. But some don't get there; they declare insolvency (file bankruptcy or make a consumer proposal to creditors) first.

Insolvency being declared much sooner for student debt

Our study shows that tuition hikes are taking their toll on graduates. Higher debt upon graduation is just not sustainable, contributing to many graduates declaring insolvency much earlier than in the past.

Graduates are declaring insolvency much sooner after graduation. The average age of an insolvent student debtor in 2018 was 34.6 compared to 35.7 in 2011 after peaking at 36.1 years in 2012.

While more likely to be in their 30s, three in 10 student debt insolvencies are filed by those aged 18-29 and insolvency among recent graduates is increasing.

To have student debt dissolved in a bankruptcy or consumer proposal, the debtor must have been out of school for at least seven years. This is why the average age of an insolvent debtor is in their mid-30s. They have been out of school, and struggling with repayment, for years. Those who file insolvency with student-related debt still owe an average of $14,729 in student loans representing 32% of all their unsecured debt.

Federal and provincial student loan and grant programs such as OSAP have helped increase enrollment in college and university programs among young Canadians but have also resulted in high post-secondary dropout rates. Historical studies ⁶ by Statistics Canada report a university dropout rate of 16% and a college dropout rate of 25%. Yet these are people who unfortunately still must repay their accumulated student loans, a challenge when they are unable to find suitable employment. Students who did not successfully complete their studies can also have their student debt eliminated, but must wait for their end of study date to be more than seven years before they file their consumer proposal or bankruptcy.

Job-related challenges lead to student debt default

While most student debtors cite poor management of finances as the number one cause of their debt problems, almost one-third (29%) stated that job-related or income issues contributed to their financial problems.

The Canada Student Loans program reported ² a three-year default rate of 9% in 2015-2016. While the default rate is on the decline, this is due primarly to increased use of the Repayment Assistance Program (RAP). CSL reported a total of 305,769 borrowers in the Repayment Assistance Plan, roughly 12% of all direct loan borrowers. What is revealing is that the first year RAP uptake rate has increased over the past five years.

Graduates leaving university often end up working in unpaid internships, part-time positions, and minimum wage jobs. They are increasingly unable to find a stable job with enough income to support both student loan repayment and living expenses. This has contributed to an increase in the percentage of insolvent debtors with unpaid student debt.

If this cycle continues for the minimum seven years after they attended school, and they are still struggling with repayment, a bankruptcy or proposal becomes an alternative for debt relief.

People filing insolvency with student loans are working, in fact, 86% reported being employed. It is the quality of their job and income that is at issue.

The average income for an insolvent student debtor in 2018 was $2,430 - 4.7% below that of the average insolvent debtor without student loans.

Delaying financial obligations and accumulating post-graduate debt

Repaying student debt after graduation takes more than just simple budgeting to pay back this level of loans. The obligation to pay back debt at such an early age creates a cash flow crunch when most are earning a lower than average income. Individuals struggling to repay student debt are unable to build an emergency fund, save for a home, and keep up with student loan payments. Some turn to credit card debt to makes ends meet, and a staggering number of insolvent student debtors use payday loans. In 2018, 45% of student debtors had at least one payday loan at the time of their insolvency.

Payday loans and other revolving debt create a cycle of debt accumulation post-graduation that contributes to their insolvency. In 2018, including student loans, the average insolvent student debtor owed a total of $46,373 in unsecured debt.

It is, however, still student debt that is their primary problem. Student loans account for 32% of their total unsecured balances.

Student debt more of a dilemma for women

Even more concerning, overwhelming student debt is primarily a problem for women. In 2018, 61% of student debtors were women.

This ratio is consistent with Canada Student Loan figures ². In 2016-2017, 61% of grants & loans were distributed to women. CSL also reported that 65% of RAP recipients are female.

The female student debtor (Jane Student) is struggling with more student debt than her male cohort. Jane Student owes an average of $15,171 in student debt, 8.2% more than the average male debtor with student loans, a trend that has occurred consistently since we began our study.

A woman filing insolvency is less likely to be employed at the time of insolvency. In 2018, 83% of female student debtors were employed compared to 90% of male student debtors.

Jane Student struggles to find employment after graduation. The 2009-2010 Graduates Survey reported that while 79.4% of male students were working full-time three years after graduation ⁷, only 71.9% of female graduates were successful at finding a full-time job in that time. Even if she does find employment, Jane Student is much more likely to be out of work for other reasons including maternity leave and childcare, affecting her ability to maintain a stable income source.

It is this susceptibility to having an intermittent income that makes it difficult for Jane Student to keep up with her student loan repayments. Consequently, she has a higher student debt level than do male student debtors.

Women filing insolvency are also much more likely to be single parents than men. Looking at student loan debtors, only 8% of men are single fathers while 34% of women with student debt are single mothers. As a result, Jane Student is struggling to balance both childcare costs and student loan payments on a single income. Compounding this Jane Student has a household income that is 3% below that of male student debtors.

It's time to eliminate the waiting period

The recent federal budget ⁸ has attempted to make student loans more affordable. While student loan borrowers can choose between a lower floating rate - tied to prime - or a fixed interest rate, 99% of student borrowers choose the variable rate option. The federal government lowered the variable rate to prime and made the initial 6-month payment grace period interest-free on the federal portion of the loan.

In Ontario, interest charges during the grace period on OSAP loans resumed for those graduating as of September 2019 reversing the cost advantage provided by the previous government.

The federal government has instituted a Repayment Assistance Program to help students facing financial hardship with student debt repayment. If the applicant can prove financial hardship, they are entitled to interest relief under Stage 1 for a period of up to 60 months. After that, if still struggling, they may be entitled to both principal and interest relief. Many insolvent student debtors are either participating in this program or do not qualify under the stringent hardship provisions. For many, the postponement of payments does not help when they are also struggling with other debt. And this is contributing the increase in student bankruptcies and consumer proposals in Canada.

When repayment assistance is not enough, student debtors turn to the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act to resolve their student loan debt; however, they are subject to a waiting period of seven years. Section 178(1) of the act does not release or discharge a debtor from:

any debt or obligation in respect of a loan made under the Canada Student Loans Act, the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act or any enactment of a province that provides for loans or guarantees of loans to students where the date of bankruptcy of the bankrupt occurred(i) before the date on which the bankrupt ceased to be a full- or part-time student, as the case may be, under the applicable Act or enactment, or(ii) within seven years after the date on which the bankrupt ceased to be a full- or part-time student;

Simply put - if you have government-guaranteed student loans, you must wait seven years from your last date of study to have these loans discharged in a bankruptcy or consumer proposal.

To complicate matters even more, students can apply for a hardship ruling to have the waiting period reduced to five years if they "experience financial difficulty to such an extent that the bankrupt will be unable to pay the debt". This requires a court application, with the assistance and expense of a lawyer, and is very difficult to obtain.

Yet if you have private student debt - a bank loan, credit card, or student line of credit - these debts are included in a consumer insolvency and discharged with no waiting period.

It is our opinion that the waiting period for student loan discharge should be eliminated. There is no valid reason to treat government student loans different from private student loans. The intended use for borrowing is the same, no matter the source. These are monies used to pay for the cost of education and living costs. Students do not have to support where they spent the money. OSAP and CLS can be used to pay for tuition, room and board, clothing, food, or any expense while in school not unlike their credit card or line of credit.

If not eliminated entirely, the waiting period should be tied to both the length and benefit of the program they attend and hence expected outcomes. If they drop out of school after one year, they can have any loans discharged after waiting one additional year. If they attend a three-year program, they should be required to wait no more than three years to be eligible for discharge.

It is time we stop saddling an entire generation with debt from which many cannot fully reap any benefit.

Profile of the Average Student Debtor

The average student debtor owes $46,373 in unsecured loans, including $14,729 in student debt. The student debtor is more likely to be female, single, with or without a dependent.

Sources (first instance & charts):

1. Hoyes, Michalos Bankruptcy Study

2. Canada Student Loans Program statistical review 2016 to 2017 https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/canada-student-loans-grants/reports/cslp-statistical-2016-2017.html

3. Ontario Student Assistance Program annual report http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arreports/en18/v1_310en18.pdf

4. Graduating in Canada: Profile, Labour Market Outcomes and Student Debt of the Class of 2009-2010 - Revised: Section 4 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/81-595-m/2014101/section04-eng.htm

5. Canadian undergraduate tuition fees by field of study https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710000301 and Canadian graduate tuition fees by field of study https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710000401

6. Participation levels, graduation and dropout rates by December 2005 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/81-595-m/2008070/figures/6000093-eng.htm

7. Percentage of 2009-2010 university graduates working full-time, three years after graduation https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/81-582-x/2015003/tbl/tble2.6-eng.htm

8. Federal Budget 2019 https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/youth-jeunes/youth-jeunes-en.pdf

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Student debt in Canada is in a crisis. We say this because we see the negative consequences of more and more young people taking on student loans, in higher amounts. In 2018, student debt contributed to more than 1 in 6 (17.6%) insolvencies in Ontario 1, a record rate since we began our study nine years ago.

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Governments can afford to pay off every student's loans and then some

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Governments can afford to pay off every student's loans and then some

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This article highlights that the Canadian government can and has forgiven student loan debt that they have given up on collecting in the past. Additionally, they have forgiven loans unrelated to students, such as the 2.6 billion dollars Chrysler had in debt after the 2009 economic crash, even though they now make more then 8.6 billion dollars each year.
"If a $2.6-billion loan is uncollectable from a company making billions each year, surely a government could similarly treat money owed by its own citizens whose incomes are in a different universe." ~ Nora Loreto, July 10th 2019

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Americans owe a collective US$1.6 trillion in student debt to public and private lenders. It's a staggering sum that, if elected, Bernie Sanders will eliminate.

Average debt per student is close to US$30,000, according to Sanders' policy proposal. Almost two-thirds of that debt is held by women. Racialized Americans borrow more than white people.

Many Canadians might be surprised to know that even though Canada's higher education system is mostly public and tuition fees are much lower, Canadians' student debt burden is comparable to Americans'.

As of last year, Canadian students owed $28 billion in student debt to all levels of government, $19 billion of which was owed to the federal government.

One 2015 survey of 18,000 graduating students put average per student debt at $26,819. This figure takes into account Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, where fees are significantly lower than the national average.

Former students in Ontario and in Atlantic Canada owe the most, on average: more than $28,000 each, in public and private loans.

Because of interest, a student who has to take out loans will ultimately pay more than a student who can walk into the registrar's office carrying a sack with a dollar sign on it. This creates a perverse system in which wealthy Canadians pay less for higher education than poorer Canadians.

Eliminating the debt would remove one of Canada's most pernicious generators of inequality. Doing so wouldn't be cheap, but it also wouldn't be as difficult as many proponents of the debt-to-educate model want Canadians to believe. These amounts are cumulative and would be a one-time cost to eliminate.

Each year, the government writes off student debt it doesn't expect to be able to collect. The past three years, it wrote off $710 million. As tuition fees and debts have grown steadily over the past decade, it's reasonable to imagine more and more students will not be able to pay back their debts and these sums will rise. Or the government will have to pay more for loan relief and repayment-assistance measures.

The $19 billion owed to the federal government is money already spent. Allowing Canadians to stop having to send hundreds of dollars each month to the federal government would stimulate economic activity and relieve a tremendous amount of stress. And some of the written-down sum would be offset by increased tax revenues, as Canadians can deduct up to $2,500 every year in student loan interest payments.

"We have universal access to health care and primary & secondary education, but for some reason, our love for universality stops when someone graduates high school. There's no reason why college & university education can't be debt-free" - @NoLore

In 2015-16, the Canada Student Loans Program lent $2.7 billion to Canadian students. If $2.7 billion represents the annual cost to pay for student loans that wouldn't be paid back if loans were eliminated, plus lost annual interest payments of $862.6 million ( in 2018), the federal government would need to find $3.6 billion to eliminate loans.

In 2017-18, the federal government wrote off $6.8 billion in loans. The largest portion of that was $2.6 billion given to Chrysler after the economic crash in 2009. Chrysler merged with Fiat in 2014 and has netted $8.4 billion in revenue over the past three years. If a $2.6-billion loan is uncollectable from a company making billions each year, surely a government could similarly treat money owed by its own citizens whose incomes are in a different universe.

Or the federal government could shift its spending to eliminate student debt. It's simply a matter of priorities. In Budget 2019, the Liberals promised $3.9 billion to supply-managed farmers to help cover the costs farmers will incur by free-trade agreements the government has signed. It also promised an additional $1.39 billion for two years of the government's Middle East Strategy and $1.18 billion to strengthen border security.

And of course, Canadians' new Trans Mountain pipeline will cost us somewhere north of $7.4 billion.

We could even maintain this spending and still wipe out student debt. There is at least $14.6 billion per year estimated by the CRA that is withheld by wealthy Canadians. Recovering that money and giving it to Canadians to pay for their higher education would not only be popular, it would also redistribute wealth in an important way.

To pay for his plan, Sanders has promised to create a "Wall Street speculation tax" where stocks, bonds and derivative trading would be levied. Canadians could create a similar tax here. Or increase taxes on capital gains, as the NDP has promised. Their plan would bring in nearly $3 billion annually.

Ideally, a zero-loans system is accompanied by free higher education. It would be a radical departure from Canada's status quo, but it would put us on the same page as dozens of countries, including Norway, Brazil, Mexico and Germany. Provincial budgets, like the federal budget, have the means both to reallocate resources to make education free and to find new revenue streams to pay for it. Importantly, there will be massive savings to the student loans bureaucracy, both governmental and institutional, as students would no longer need to apply for loans and be tracked to ensure their payments are being made when they're graduated.

As tuition fees continue to balloon, Canadians need to get serious about funding higher education. We have universal access to health care and primary and secondary education, but for some reason, our love for universality stops when someone graduates high school. There's no reason why college and university education can't be debt-free ⁠- we can afford it if it's a political priority. The only question is, why are Liberals and Conservatives so opposed to free education?

As students in Ontario are finding Doug Ford has cut loan payments far deeper than anticipated, the time to decide whether a program like OSAP should even exist is now.

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Governments can afford to make student debt disappear. So why don't they?

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Americans owe a collective US$1.6 trillion in student debt to public and private lenders. It's a staggering sum that, if elected, Bernie Sanders will eliminate. Average debt per student is close to US$30,000, according to Sanders' policy proposal. Almost two-thirds of that debt is held by women.

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Tips to graduate with as little debt as possible

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Tips to graduate with as little debt as possible

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In this video they share tips on how to best pay off a loan.
1) Take the loan out a year at a time, not all the years at once.
This help to reduce the cost of monthly payments, and allows breathing room if your financial situation changes between years.
2) Seek financial aid. There are many resources available and they share many of these in the video.
3) Don't let the loan default, letting the loan default will have a negative effect on your credit, and it will be much harder to get a house, or any other loan in the future.

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Community Outreach Manager of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada

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Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada

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Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada

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Canadian Student Loan Tips on Breakfast TV

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Many young people are forced to deal with student debt. Dan Chometta, Community Outreach Manager of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada ( http://www.consolidatedcredit.ca ) offers student loan tips to Canadians on Breakfast TV. More information on this topic can be found on www.consolidatedcredit.ca/personal-finances/life-events/student-debt/.

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We chose the topic "Student Loan Debt" and on our wall we are focusing on the severity of student loan debt and how to pay it off more easily.

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What did you learn about your topic that surprised you the most?

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What did you learn about your topic that surprised you the most?

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What I learned most about this assignment is that being smart with money is the key to getting ahead in this world because if your not working 30 hours a week at a min wage job since 14 you will still be in loads of debt regardless of how hard you work but in our case we both live at home and took a much cheaper hands on course that is going to land us a good paying job where we have a chance to get our debt paid off and that is why I believe a college education is much more cost effective compared to university. Being smart with money when your young and avoiding student debt at all costs means you will be more likely and financially able to achieve all your goals you want out of this big game called life.

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Provide a real-life example of how this topic is relevant or interesting to you?

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Provide a real-life example of how this topic is relevant or interesting to you?

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A real life example of how this effects individuals is that almost everyone i know at college is hindered by student debt. I already see some of my peers stressed about not having enough money to avoid interest after 6 months of being done college. Did you know in the 1970's a student could pay for their own college education and have leftovers and in today's world that is impossible the cost of living is just to high to be able to that with a min wage job and I know this for a fact. I work myself into the ground every week with work and school for years and all for what If i end school with debt so large I will not be able to pay it off in the grace period and this just is not right. Working hard should get you ahead in life not just ahead enough to avoid the debt sentence.

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If you could pass on your knowledge to a family member or friend, what do you think is the most important thing to pass on?

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If you could pass on your knowledge to a family member or friend, what do you think is the most important thing to pass on?

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I think the most important thing to pass on would be the tips to avoid massive debt, as this would help the majority of people who hear it. While hearing how severe it is and how people have overcome their debt makes for interesting stories, they aren't nearly as helpful as preventing debt in the first place.