According to Generation Opportunity, a large non-profit and non-partisan organization that recently conducted a nationwide survey in July of 2012 that looked at 1,003 adults between the ages 18-29 years
old, far more current college and university students in the U.S. would prefer to have jobs waiting for them after they graduate than the number of students who would rather have lower interest rates on their student loans.Although there are a number of students who would prefer low interest rates on loans, most students in the study felt that being able to get a full-time job after graduation is a better way to go because it would allow them to be working and give them a way to pay off their loans too. A great number of this nation's college students believe there just aren't enough jobs available for them after they leave school. That belief is a common fear and a source of frustration for many students and young people in the nation today. A great many students now fear being cast into a weak economy where there just aren't enough full-time positions to go around, especially for recent graduates who lack any real prior work experience. And their fears are usually reinforced when it comes time to start paying off their outstanding loans.
The Generation Opportunity study showed that a full 64 percent of the young adults surveyed believe that, "the availability of more quality, full-time jobs upon graduation is more important than lower student loan interest rates." Recent financial data shows that U.S. college students are facing a double-barreled shotgun of problems upon graduation as the current youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is much higher than the national average and as of September 2012, 11.8 percent of America's youth were unemployed, while at the same time recent college grads in the nation held an average of $26,600 in student loan debt, up from the $25,250 average debt they held just a year ago.
Both are negative situations that will impact the futures of American students and underscore the need for interest rates that should allow students to get jobs and be able to begin repaying their loans at the same time. When there aren't enough jobs, or enough of the right jobs, it serves to point out the multiple challenges currently facing those who are looking to begin a career in a very difficult economy. While those college students who do manage to graduate without incurring any student loan debt will probably prefer to have a ready and waiting job to lower interest rates, even students with heavy loan burdens can see that low interest rates will not benefit them in the long term nearly as much as getting a good job will.