Voters at Radiant Life Church and Hyatt Park Elementary School were of aware of students’ concerns about college debt, but college debt was not an issue that influenced their candidate choices.

Walker White, a 28-year-old network engineer, voted at Radiant Life Church in Elgin, South Carolina. He is currently paying off eight loans, totaling $65,000, that he used to fund his studies at a technical school, a public four-year university and a private four-year institution.

White has consolidated and refinanced his loans twice and has finally reached a payment plan that spans over 25 years.

“Sallie Mae is a b—-,” said white, referring to the Student Loan Marketing Association nicknamed “Sallie Mae.” Established in 1973, Sallie Mae was designed to support the guaranteed student loan program created by the Higher Education Act of 1965.

White said that some of the presidential candidates may have offered debt reform strategies, but they wouldn’t affect him because the plans are focused on debts incurred by those currently in college, not the debt of college graduates still paying student loans

While White said he does not identify with any particular party, he did say that he would vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

Jason Reese, 42, also voting at Radiant Life Church, works in the financial industry. He graduated from a public four-year institution with student debt. He was able to make his monthly payments, and he actually paid his loans off “a few years early.”

Reese said his annual tuition was about $15,000, but acknowledged that tuition rates have more than doubled in the past decade.

“College is expensive, and it is concerning in some ways,” said Reese but he added that he is aware college costs might need to be high to include salaries of professors.

“As a father of four, I can’t pay for all of my kids’ college. I contribute to a 529 plan. It’s a concern, but I am planning for it,” said Reese who declined to reveal his choice for president.

Charles Henson, 61, a retired Army veteran voted at Hyatt Park Elementary School near downtown Columbia, South Carolina. He had no student debt upon college graduation because the military paid for his education.

If he had not chosen to enter the military, would he have still pursued a college education? “Absolutely not,” said Henson. “I would just rely on my common sense and street smarts. I’ve always had a job.”

Henson voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Lee Wells, 50, an insurance adjuster, is the mother of two children who graduated with student loan debt. She helped both of her children pay off their debt while they were living at home, but stopped helping once they decided to move out.

Wells attended a technical school 20 years ago and her tuition for both years totaled about $4,000. The high cost of tuition today, “makes me angry. There is no reason why it should go up that much.”

A Republican and supporter of Republican Donald Trump, she said, “it is not reasonable to make the government pay for people’s student loan debt, but there should be easier ways to pay it off. Kind of like they do for teachers, but for all degrees. It will also give people a sense of community and build compassion if they give back more.”

Speaking to these individuals reinforced my belief that college debt is a major issue that affects individuals of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

 

 

 

I believe that everyone has the right to receive a debt-free higher education.

Graduation should be a happy day, not the day you’re stressing over your student loans.

My friend Ava, 23, graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications. Everyone was proud of her accomplishment, so it was a very joyous moment.

One week after her graduation party, she received an email from FedLoan Servicing, an organization established to support the U.S. Department of Education’s ability to service student loans owned by the federal government. The email congratulated her and reminded her that her first payment was due in six months.

At that time, six months sounded really far away, so Ava did not think about her loan repayment again. A month after graduation, Ava was lucky enough to get a job in her field as a promotion coordinator for a radio station.

Like most people her age, she was ready to move out of her parent’s house and finally establish her independence. After all, that’s why she went to college—to establish a career so that she would be able to support herself.

Ava is not unusual.

She is among the 54 percent of students who graduated from the University of South Carolina with an average debt of over $28,000, according to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to increasing college access, affordability and success through improvements in student financial aid policies.

Her starting annual salary was about $37,000. With that income, she was able to afford a one-bedroom apartment, with renter’s insurance and utilities. She also started making own car payment and car insurance; her parents had previously paid those bills.

About two months later, she received another email from FedLoan Servicing reminding her that her first payment was due in 30 days. This time she read the email in detail. That is when she realized that she owed over $43,000 in student loans.

Forty-three thousand dollars is more than her annual salary.

With Ava’s student loan payments, which were just under $400 per month, along with her living expenses, she only had about $85 left over for herself for the entire month.

Her monthly repayment amount is not unusually high. Considering she has a standard 10-year repayment plan, her amount is typical, according to Federal Student Aid, the largest provider of student financial aid in the nation, with more than $150 billion in federal grants, loans, and work-study funds provided each year to more than 13 million students.

Ava felt as if she were reliving her “poor” undergraduate years all over again.

Needless to say, this is not the life that college students dream about after graduation.

I believe that college graduations should be celebratory events, not triggers for your anxiety. I believe receiving a debt free post-secondary education should be an unalienable right granted to us along with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.

How can you truly be independent today without a higher education?