A higher education can be a very valuable thing. Thus, it is not surprising that individuals will often go to great lengths to get such an education. One of the things that many students do in order to pay for a higher education is take out student loans.
The hope that students generally have when it comes to taking out student loans is that after their education is done, the education they received will open the door for them to get well-paying jobs that will make it so they will be able to pay their student loans back without facing any significant debt struggles.
Unfortunately, things sometimes happen to a person with student loans that make it so this hoped for progression of events doesn’t happen. Such things can include difficulties with finding a job or having to take a lower paying job than one was hoping for. This could potentially cause the student debt that was once a major door-opener for a person’s education being a major roadblock in their financial life.
A recent report indicates that difficulties with student loan debt are something that may be particularly common here in Mississippi. The report rated Mississippi the worst place in the country to have student debt.
The report looked at various factors related to student debt, income and jobs when ranking states regarding how hard of a place they were for those with student debt. There were four factors Mississippi did particularly poorly on in the report:
- Unemployment rates among young workers (specifically, workers ages 24 to 35).
- Student loan debt as compared to cost-of-living-adjusted income.
- Percentage of student loans that are in a state of being in default or past-due.
- Percentage of individuals with student loans who have past-due student loan payments or who are in default on their student loans.
What do you think it is about the current conditions here in Mississippi that is making this the case?
Many different circumstances can be behind a Mississippian’s student loan debt struggles and many different circumstances, including their overall debt situation, can impact what sorts of debt relief options would be best for their debt problems. In some instances, even with the fact that bankruptcy discharges generally aren’t available for student debt, bankruptcy could be a helpful tool for those facing student debt difficulties.
Source: WDAM, “Study: Mississippi worst state for student debt,” August 4, 2015
Connect with Us