Student loan debt: America's next trillion dollar headache

It was recently announced that for the first time, the total amount of student loan debt is greater than the accumulated credit card balances of all Americans. Already more than $800 billion and expected to pass the $1 trillion mark this year, the student loan problem is something that hits home for all of us.

We think it is important to discover the root of this issue and even more important to see how Washington should respond.

With the U.S. budget and deficit problem center stage, federal programs like Pell Grants are under serious threat of receiving a cut of $5.7 billion. What does this mean? The fate remains uncertain of the 9.4 million low and middle-income students who depend on the program to help defray ballooning tuition costs.

Cutting spending for programs like this will not only hurt students in the short term, but will pose a serious threat to America’s competitiveness in the long term. If this does happen, access to higher education will only become more difficult for those students who may have the ability to succeed but not the ability to pay.

Our concern is the rationale behind cutting spending for programs that make higher education more affordable. We agree that education spending is more than just a numerical number on the budget; it is an investment in the future of the nation’s workforce.  

An education is the difference between rags and riches in today’s global economy. It is common sense that those who attain a higher level of education earn more than their counterparts, who do not have as high of a level.

And as incomes rise, so does the amount of revenue the government takes in from income and consumption-based taxes.

To secure affordability and access to higher education now promotes a wealthier workforce in the future.

Better educated college graduates will undoubtedly pay tenfold more in taxes during the course of their career than the up-front costs the government had to assist in getting them there.