The Last Straw Against Our Struggle for Higher Education

Have you ever heard the term the straw that broke the camels back? Well Congress just may have dealt that final straw. In todays economy finding a decent job is difficult enough with the proper education, let alone without it, so going to college is the only option for the majority of the American population. Knowing this, universities are continuously raising tuition rates which requires some, if not most, students to take out student loans to cover the cost of college attendance. Before reading an article by Cheyenne Johnson in the UCSB Associated Students newspaper, The Bottom Line, I was one of the thousands of unsuspecting students that had no idea of the life-changing decision made by Congress to abolish the postgraduation six-month grace period for student loans. Why was I uninformed about this decision? The disappointing answer is that Congress made a sneaky move and revoked the loan grace period during the summer when students are home, not in school! I was outraged when Johnson also stated that Congress is excusing this decision by cutting the loan rates in half to 3.4%, but only for this year - now the grace periods are gone and this isnt even a permanent change! As a transfer student, I have an even shorter amount of time to graduate than students who attend a university for all four years, and therefore my stress levels are higher than the average college student. In addition to adjusting to a new campus I have to bring my learning and writing skills to a whole new level especially as an English major, try to make various connections quickly, and try to study abroad which has been my dream and goal for years. For some transfers and even traditional students the chance to study abroad, whether for a quarter or a year, will never reach fruition and this added financial burden to our lives is intolerable. In her article, Johnson quoted UCSB Associated Students Executive Nadim Houssain who said that the removal of the grace period makes access to higher education even harder to achieve, and they are both 100% accurate in this assumption; due to the constant budget cuts to higher education, there are less spaces available for new incoming students and for continuing students to achieve success in attempting to better their lives. Students across the state of California are as furious as I am about this decision, it seems that monetary issues revolving around higher education are constantly being put on the back burner or neutralized altogether and I think the term enough is enough is rightly placed in this issue I am tired of hearing that education reform will come later.

I am not surprised to hear that students are planning to lobby for and bring these concerns to the forefront of student needs in the academic and political area. Changes are needed now, when students are in college and have families and financial needs that will hinder their academic career if they have to worry about defaulting on their current and future student loans after graduating. This is especially a worry for me and other transfer students, who have graduation looming much more quickly, and most likely will need to continue onto graduate school afterward. How can we take out loans for graduate school, when we have to worry about paying off the loans taken out during our undergraduate stufy right after graduation? How will we be able to get the job we want without the proper financial resources to acquire the education we need? How long will it be before more cuts are made that distinctly affect our pursuit of higher education under the guise of helping us in the long-run, not just in California but across the country?