How Graduates Can Pay Off Their Student Loans Instead of Being in Debt
for Most of Their Lives:

In the United States, the central problem for many is the accumulated student loan debt. More than 45 million students are in debt, a result of decades of disinvestment in public higher education that has shifted costs onto students and their families while leaving colleges and universities underfunded. Student debt mainly occurred because of the rise of tuition costs starting in the early 2000s in the United States, due to increased government spending. At nearly $1.6 trillion, student loan debt exceeds all types of household debt other than mortgages. Unlike holders of other types of consumer debt, who have experienced lower levels of delinquency and default since the Great Recession, student loan borrowers remain in distress. Nearly 1 in 4 federal borrowers are in default or struggling to stay current on their loans. When they fall behind on their payments, the consequences are dire: negative credit reports, wage garnishment and diminished options to cure defaulted loans. Consumer credit reports—which are the keys to employment, housing, and access to credit, and consequently to economic stability itself—are tarnished. By almost any definition, this is a crisis. It is certainly a crisis for those with student loan debts whose repayment schedules span decades, with large monthly payments. It is also a crisis for lenders experiencing significant default rates and, perhaps, a crisis for the federal government, as it guarantees these student loans. Many argue that it is also a crisis for our nation’s economy; servicing this debt has a chilling effect on the sale of houses, cars, appliances, and furniture, as well as spending for vacations and luxury items.

Despite these horrible statistics, there is a clear solution to the student loan issue. Instead of applying to the bank for a loan that would take years to pay back, college graduates could sell their body parts to pay off their debt. After all, college tuition does cost an arm and a leg. This plan would function in two steps: first, after a person graduates from college, they would go to the bank to drop off their body parts (the number of body parts would vary from person to person, depending on how expensive the tuition is) in exchange to be debt-free from college expenses. Then, the person would buy robotic replacements for the limbs they have dropped off at the bank, so they could function normally. This would work because many people would dread having to pay back their loans each year until they’re old, and with this solution, it’s much easier and quicker to pay off the debt. 

There are many advantages to selling body parts in exchange for having student debt paid off. Firstly, it would pay off the loans much faster. Graduates from these colleges could begin living their lives instead of facing the heavy burdens of financial debt. Secondly, people with robotic body parts would be more educated, stronger, and faster. These partial-robot humans would be considered smarter because they would get their degrees from expensive colleges. They would also be stronger and faster because now they would own motorized or mechanical body parts that would work better compared to normal limbs. When graduates would get a job, their productivity would increases substantially because they would work very efficiently for longer hours. They could perform a multitude of tasks in a faster time and would not need to worry about twisting an ankle ever again. Imagine an athlete who would win all the competitions because of their improved speed and mobility on robotic legs. An artist who paid for their education with an eye would replace it with a robotic eyeball with infrared vision that would enable them to scan and detect fake paintings. A musician would be able to play the piano with great accuracy for days without getting tired because of their robotic fingers. There are countless ways the robotic parts would enhance and perfect the human body, and I encourage you to come up with your own ideas.

Lastly, this proposal would benefit the economy. New businesses to create the robotic body parts would emerge, creating more jobs. The steel and electronic components production would increase, and new companies would appear, offering a variety of improved robotic parts. In addition, without loans, young people would start buying nice houses earlier in life, which would benefit the real estate industry because more houses would be built and sold. 

In real life, many organizations are pushing for free college education as a solution to the student loan crisis. These groups want to eliminate the federal government's profiting on student debt and cut interest on student loans. Although many believe that cutting the interest on student loans seems more reasonable than selling body parts to pay off the debts, the debt would still be a financial burden for graduates. Even if the tuition is reduced, many students would still have to pay off the remaining money—and that would still harm them financially. Additionally, the graduates would miss the opportunities to upgrade their bodies with the latest engineering marvels and benefit from the latest technologies that would become more performant and more affordable each year.

Attending college may cost an arm and a leg, overwhelming the students who are forced to take on a loan. A simple solution to this problem would be for the graduates to sell their body parts to pay off their debt. This is a logical solution to the student debt crisis because it pays off much faster than the current numerous years of paying the loan back to the bank. It also offers economic advantages, including the creation of new jobs and improving the real estate market. From a human development perspective, it would contribute to a life full of achievements because people would be faster and stronger than ever before, integrating state-of-the-art technology into their bodies. Other fields including healthcare, credit cards, and mortgages would benefit from a similar approach in the future, contributing to the advancement of mankind enhanced with robotic body parts. What would you do if a college education would cost an arm and a leg? Would you pay the price, or would you give the bank an arm or a leg to live a debt-free life? The choice is yours.