Survey: Most Students Expect Loans To Create Post-Graduation Challenges
Three
out of four college students believe their
student loan debt will force them to delay many of their
post-graduation plans,
but even more — nearly four out of five — said they're not sure how
much money
they will eventually owe or how long it will take to pay it off, finds a recent survey.
According
to a Harris Poll online survey
conducted in August for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), 75
percent of college
students said they expect to delay marriage, having children,
purchasing homes
or saving for retirement because of their anticipated student loan
debt. The
survey also found that, of the 751 students who said they expected to be enrolled
in a
two- or four-year college in the fall, 37 percent said they believed they would
have to
live with their parents immediately following graduation. The same
percentage
said they expected they would have to accept a job that is not in their field
after they
graduate.
Nearly
four out of five students (79 percent)
said they were not sure how much they would owe in student loans upon
graduation. Nevertheless, 43 percent said they had a vague idea of what
their
debt load would be, but only 22 percent said they had an exact amount
in mind.
The
average student estimated it would take nine
years after graduation to pay his or her loans, with 18 percent saying
it would
take more than 10 years. The same percentage said they had no idea how
long it
would take and 6 percent said they had never thought about it.
Of
those students who said they anticipated
post-graduation sacrifices because of their debt, 40 percent said they
believed
they would have trouble purchasing a home, 29 percent said they would
have to
delay saving for retirement, 31 percent said they would have to wait to
have
children and 26 percent said would postpone plans to get married.
"While
a college education is increasingly
essential in today's economy, student loans take years to pay off and
can cause
individuals to put their life's ambitions on hold," said AICPA National
CPA
Financial Literacy Commission Chair Greg Anton. "It's encouraging that
students
seem to understand that the decisions they make about how to fund their
education
have the potential to stick with them throughout their post-graduation
life."
Since
the survey revealed that 59 percent of
college students will graduate with student loan debt, the National CPA
Financial Literacy Commission offered them the following tips:
- Do
not take out more in total student loan debt
than you reasonably expect to earn during your first year in your first
job;
- Exhaust
every available source of "free" money,
such as scholarships, before applying for any type of loan;
- Discuss
your financial circumstances with
counselors at your college or university; and
- Be
aware of the different pay-off options
available from federal and private student loans.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.