Not many people would argue against the belief that education is a vital part of humanity, but some still do not treat it as such. Young minority and non-minority students are being put through an educational system that, admittedly, has many flaws. The most concerning flaw occurs right at the end of these student’s academic careers: college. A student faced with the financial and mental burden that is college will at times make a decision that can impact them financially 15 years later.

Now, the fact that an 18 year old, who has come out of high school with only an introductory economics class under their belt must make a decision worth tens of thousands of dollars is absurd to begin with. For some students, this decision costs months of potential in the job industry, along with any additional debt they acquire. This opportunity has been especially difficult for low income minority students across the country. A Demos analysis on the Federal Reserve’s 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances shows that, on average White high school dropouts have around the same wealth as a Black college graduate. These numbers are what discourage minorities from attending university. They figure that if they’re not going to be making as much money as a White high school dropout, there is no point in going to college. People like Michelle Obama are trying to avoid adoption of this mentality by young minorities. While the Obama Administration has implemented programs to aid minority students, such as the Student Loan Forgiveness Program, it fails to address deeper socio-economic problems faced by minority students who end up dropping out of college.

This article from The Guardian displays a quote by the First Lady telling graduates of Booker T Washington high school, a school mainly comprised of minority students, to pursue an education. It reads “’Do you hear what I’m telling you… Because I’m giving you some insights that a lot of rich kids all over the country – they know this stuff, and I want you to know it, too. Because you have got to go and get your education. You’ve got to.’” While the First Lady’s words certainly seem sincere, all of the numbers point against her arguments.

Not only are minority students making less money on average than their White counterparts, they also have on average more student debt. A Gallup study on student loan disparities between race shows that 50 percent of black college graduates will leave their college with more than $25,000 in student loans. This is significantly more than the 34 percent of white graduates with more than $25,000 in student loans. The choice many minorities must make ends up losing them thousands of dollars either way. One must choose between only achieving a high school degree and living in poverty or going to college and acquiring thousands of dollars in debt.

In addition, this Bloomberg article cites a study done by the University of California, Los Angeles. It has shown that “The average student loan bill for both groups is about $8,000. But that’s half the $16,000 average wealth of black families and only 7 percent of the average $124,000 wealth of white families.” The staggeringly low average black family wealth has made many black students unable to afford such bills, making them default on their loans and sometimes even drop out.

Many minority students have decided to try out the college life, and end up defaulting on the loans they have. This ruins credit scores and can make buying a car, home or even acquiring a job impossible. This situation has plagued many minority households, and adds another figure to the staggering amount of low-wage workers in our country. The outcome of one’s life can start as early as age 17, which is a frightening thought. Many of these minority students come from a household where their parents, while supportive, do not know enough about economics to assist their children.

Not only is the financial aspect of the student loan system sometimes too much to bare for these minority students, but the social aspect as well. There have been many students, much like the person telling their story in this New York Times article that have ended up not being able to afford college due to family issues. The article tells of a minority student in their mid-twenties, reminiscing about their decision to default on their student loans. “By the end of my sophomore year at a small private liberal arts college, my mother and I had taken out a second loan, my father had declared bankruptcy and my parents had divorced.” Familial issues, such as parent’s divorce or the death of a parent are expected to not interfere with student loan payment by the government, which is absurd. The Obama Administration could easily fix this issue by giving more forgiveness to students of families with these issues.

The Obama Administration has been attempting to update the previously ineffective Student Loan Forgiveness Program. While they’re headed in the correct direction with this Program, the fact remains that the average student loan is unnecessarily high. Student loan debt levels have reached $1.35 trillion in the United States alone. Debt has risen by an average of $100 billion per year since 2007. The average student loan debt amount for a person ages 25-35 is $20,000. For some minority graduates, this is higher than their yearly income. While education has been increasing and unemployment has been decreasing, student loan level is getting to a point where college will be simply unaffordable for many households across the country.

We’ve seen politicians like Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders make promises to help the enormous student debt issue. There is no guarantee that Sanders will take office, however. Also, like Mrs. Obama, talk is not only cheap; it’s $20,000 in debt. Every year these political figures wait to make a move to fix the debt problem, $100 billion is taken from these student’s pockets. At the current rate, the student debt level is set to surpass the current mortgage debt level in less than a decade. It is a problem that, many times, in order to acquire the debt that comes with a mortgage, we must first undertake student loan debt. The repercussions of waiting for a politician to fix the student debt problems can range from graduates losing their homes to much worse. The economy and job market will not just wait for someone to come around and fix it, so we have to take action as soon as possible to help students avoid a grim future.

To help these young adults, we must first educate them in financial decisions they will make in the future. From my understanding and experience, economics classes teach these teens about GDP on the macro-economic scale, but fail to stress the importance of decisions the teen will be making in the next 10 years of their lives. Many counselors will tell students to go to college, no matter what kind of debt the student may acquire. This way of thinking does not benefit the student at all. If the student did not achieve as much as they would have liked to academically, I’d would highly advise them to take a semester, or even a year off to gain work experience, and more importantly, wisdom. It would be more beneficial than spending thousands of dollars getting a degree that would land them in the same job position that they would have been in, had they worked instead of going to school.

Writer Gerard Kelly touches on these issues in his piece, It’s Poverty of Ambition, not Student Debt, that’s Keeping Poor Children Away from University. He asserts that “The biggest hurdle poor pupils face is mental, not financial. They think that university isn’t for them. Thanks to the antics of the NUS et al their fears are reinforced.” Students from all around the world are facing this heavy burden, and the stress and anxiety that comes with it. At times, one can sympathize with some students’ decisions to drop out of college, although many are against it.

The Obama Administration has been urging minority students to stay in school, no matter the cost. While they seem to have the best interest of these students in their minds, the current student loan debt situation is a hurtle that some minority students simply cannot overcome. Many of these students end up dropping out of school, 69 percent of them stating student loan debt as the reason. These students end up going against the Obama Administrations intentions, therefore, some action must clearly be taken to make attending school seem more appealing to these students. Either a much needed lowering of tuition across colleges or additional funding from the government must be provided. This same government, by the way, has profited over $1 billion from Federal Student Loan programs in the last decade.

While data shows that minority students are, on average, being affected most negatively by these loans, the government does not discriminate when it comes to taking money from students. This is a problem for minority and non-minority students alike. The only demographics profiting from these outrageous debt levels are the government and the institutions that set these prices. We should not let money restrict our education.