Every year thousands of students graduate from college owing thousands of dollars in student loans. Some of them owe this money to the government and others owe it to private student loan corporations. Students believe that student loans are a great idea because in their words, “Student loans always pay for themselves.”
Yet too many students are finding that this is not true. With the economic outlook rather dim, growth in many sectors shrinking, and huge competition for limited jobs, many students graduate from college without a solid plan to repay their loans. Many students enjoyed their college years just a little too much, not learning what they were capable of learning, and enter the job market unprepared for the demands of a job. Yet will massive student loans hanging over their heads, good jobs are exactly what student loan recipients need. Employers look at applicants and choose the person who knows the most about the job. They choose people who applied themselves in college, worked hard, and got good grades.
Perhaps the government should reexamine how student loans are offered. Many college students who have scholarships, apply themselves and work hard because they must keep their scholarships. Perhaps by requiring a minimum GPA to get and keep student loans, college students will be more prepared for the workforce. Why should scholarship recipients, who will never have to pay back the money, take their educations more seriously than those who will eventually have to pay for it out of their own pockets?
Let’s face it, too many teens and young adults enter college thinking that college is going to simply be one big party. They use their parent’s money to pay for it, and when the parents run out of money, they simply apply for and receive student loans to cover the costs of college. This might be why many students end up taking five or six years to complete college. If students have to get good grades to keep their student loans, they may be more likely to apply themselves and take each class more seriously.
Grade requirements should not be excessive. After all, if college applicants were straight A students, they would have gotten scholarships already. But students should at least be able to pass each class that they take to keep their student loans. This would mean that students would have to realistically evaluate their likelihood of passing each class before signing up for it.
The truth of the matter is this: money motivates people. But four years seems like a long time away for many students, and it is easy for them to forget that at some point, they will have to repay the money that they have borrowed. By requiring a minimum GPA to keep a student loan, students will keep in mind that the ultimate goal, graduation, cannot be indefinitely put off without racking up more and more debt.