Student Debt: Should College Tuition be Free?

For this last discussion assignment, the class will learn more about the student debt crisis. Student debt (along with the cost of a college education) has been on the rise in the last 30 years, and is affecting many people in the United States. I have selected this as a problem to analyze, not to dissuade students from taking out college loans (most people need these loans), but to foster a conversation about the structural problems in our larger society associated with so many people having to go into debt to get an education. This discussion assignment has two parts:

1. Read one of these articles on Student Debt Crisis for detailed information about this social problem:

Student Debt: Should College Tuition be Free?

The Impact of Student Loans on College Access, Completion, and Returns

2. Watch the short film Default (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. on student debt

3. In the discussion post, the class will focus on the structural explanations in our society related to the issue of student debt. You can review this concept, which was first introduced in chapter 2, and is approach that is most widely used in sociology to analyze and explain social problems. With a structural explanation approach in mind, answer the following below:

a. Write a paragraph about what you learned about student debt in the United States from what you learned in the article you read. You can focus on any topic related to the of the student debt issue that interests you. These articles cover different aspects of the problem, so you can focus on the points that interest you the most. Provide two facts that you learned, and make sure to include the title of the article you read along with the page number for your two facts. Also, make sure to write your two facts in bold.

b. From the film Default, what are the structural problems in the education system/education funding system that contributes to the difficulties the borrowers in the film were experiencing? How did the student debt incurred by the participants in the film impact their lives and their futures (from what we can gather from the film)? 

c. Are there any solutions that you think would help our student debt crisis? The video and two articles proposed a few solutions. You can also browse through NPR's collection of articles on student debt (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. where they list how different schools/states are trying to ease students facing debt or who are already living with debt. There are not too many articles with solutions on the first page, but if you click "load more" you will find much more.

Requirements for this Discussion:

-Answer question 3. a, b, c of the assignment and make sure your post is at least 300 words in length.

-You will need to reply to two students, each reply post should be at least 150 words.  

To submit a post: Click reply to this assignment then compose and submit your post. Once you click "post reply" all students in the class will be able to read your post. You will not be able to change your post once you click submit, so make sure you submit your final draft.

To submit a reply to a student: Go to the post that a student has submitted and click reply. Compose your reply and submit. All students in the class will be able to read your reply.