Voices: College students should be very worried about the national debt. Here's why.
As a college student, I’m constantly thinking about what lies ahead.
Between searching for internships and preparing myself for the job market, I already face a dizzying mix of excitement and uncertainty about the future. The last thing my peers and I need is for our leaders to burden our generation with an ever-soaring debt.
On March 15, the nation’s debt ceiling once again dominated headlines across the country. That’s when the temporary suspension of the debt ceiling expired, and when Pres. Trump released his controversial budget plan. All of this means we're facing a challenging fiscal outlook in our country.
What does long-term debt mean for millennials? Much more than you may think. With the national debt projected to hit $20 trillion this year, no one has more at stake in how America confronts its fiscal challenges than our generation. It’s our economic future on the line.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, if we don’t address the rising federal debt, it could reduce the income for an average 4-person family by as much as $12,000 in 2046. Additionally, too many millennials are burdened with crippling amounts of student debt, leaving our personal economic futures uncertain at every stage of our lives. Failing to correct our fiscal course will result in a number of economic hardships for our generation. Who stands to lose if we don’t act? A better question might be: Who doesn’t?
Related: All the ways Trump's budget would affect young Americans
Anyone who wants a good-paying job, carries student loan debt, hopes to purchase a home, or aspires to become an entrepreneur should care about our fiscal future. While addressing these challenges will require hard choices about taxes and spending, a difficult choice now will only get tougher the longer we wait.
Simply paying interest on the debt will soon become such a large portion of government spending that we could lose opportunities to make investments in education, jobs and technology that are so vital to our generation’s prosperity.
If our generation does not get educated and urge for change, then who will? We need to raise our voices and take control of our own future. I personally got involved by participating in the Up to Us Campus Competition.
The Up to Us competition takes place each year on college campuses across the country. Teams compete to design and implement creative, informative and far-reaching campaigns to raise nonpartisan awareness about the long-term national debt. Teams help their peers understand how the debt affects issues they care about, and design events like debates to explore solutions to the debt. At the end of the competition a select group of judges determines the finalists and winners, who receive cash prizes, the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with policy leaders, and attend other top-tier national conferences.
Through my participation in Up to Us, I was able to sit down with three distinguished University of Maryland professors and a handful of students to discuss solutions to the debt in detail. It was interesting to see what could come out of a discussion with varying political views, ages and backgrounds from STEM majors to experienced economics professors. A solution to deal with this fiscal challenge will never be found without crossing party lines and finding common ground. I’ve learned, when it comes to solving America’s fiscal challenge, there are no sides, only solutions.
The future outlook is cloudy if the debt continues to increase. And as I learned from the competition, it was the curious students rather than the critics who led productive conversations.
It is up to us to help change the unsustainable fiscal trajectory we are on. I urge you to share the significance of this issue with your peers. Engage your networks, friends and family to share your views and let them know you’re concerned about America’s long-term fiscal outlook and how it will impact your future economic opportunities. But, most important, be part of the solution. Bring the Up to Us movement to your community by hosting an event on campus or take action today by signing the pledge.
Caroline Cantow is a member of the USA TODAY College contributor network.
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