About

My name is Channon Watkins. I am 25 years old, and I am from Columbia, South Carolina. I am earning my undergraduate degree in English literary studies at Columbia, which is a private  liberal arts, college for women. Today’s college graduates carry an average student loan debt amount of about $27,000, double the debt amount of previous generations. This causes a generational delay in what is important to me because I am a student in debt. I started my undergraduate career as a biology major, with dreams of becoming a pharmacist. While I still work in a hospital pharmacy, my career goals have made a 180 degree turn. As you might assume, I have acquired a significant amount of college debt compound and that is why this is an issue of importance for me.

My mission is to discuss the consequences of the widespread debt that millennials are experiencing. College tuition has doubled in the past three decades. 71 percent of undergraduates at four-year institutions are graduating in student loan debt today, compared to  65 percent in 2004. This is resulting in a generation of college graduates who are unable marry, buy a car, or a buy a house. Eventually, these personal and economic delays could result in a generation of capable adults living unfulfilled lives.