It is proven that students with high amounts of debt coming out of college are extremely more likely to experience mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts or actions. The yearly costs to go to college in the United States must be lowered to ensure the health of the students. Without a change, the risk of developing these mental health problems becomes way higher. 

According to CNBC, 53 percent of high debt student loan borrowers have experienced depression because of their debt. On average, it takes around 20 years to completely pay off student loans. College is meant to be a place to set you up for success in your future, not to hurt you and your mental wellbeing for decades. Another striking statistic shows that nine in 10 students who have student loans, experience significant anxiety and troubles dealing with it. This means that only around 10 percent of students coming out of college will not suffer from a mental illness. The reason why a change has not occurred yet in the United States is because in order to run an entire college, there has to be a lot of funds to cover the costs, which then gets put on the students shoulders. The argument against lowering college costs has many different sides including how lowering the cost of college would cause an increase in taxes, a cut in military spending, and polarization between political parties. Even with these arguments, it is still obvious that the costs need to be lowered. NCBI stated that nearly half (44 percent) of college students develop an alcohol problem at some point in time and between 22 to 40 percent of students will meet the criteria for dependence on nicotine. If the mental illness is not taking people’s lives away, substance abuse is doing just the same. There has to be a change or college will soon turn into an increasingly more negative idea than a positive one. 

The negative effects of college debt on students coming out of college are enough to make anyone concerned. The best advice to current high school students who are thinking about going to college is that you must do what is best for you. Chances are, you will struggle with some sort of problem from your student loans, but really thinking about what the best road is to take, may help you even in the slightest. If the price of going to college gets decreased, it will show immediate benefits for the well being of the students.