It is extremely difficult to get a decent job in today's economy without a college degree. As the cost of tuition rises, students are forced to take out larger loans to pay for school. America's college students are finding themselves signing away their destinies just so they can have more opportunities to succeed in life. The future of our children and grandchildren demands that we make it easier for students to free themselves from the trap of student loan debt.

There is no question that obtaining a college degree is essential, especially in these times of high unemployment. A recent Gallup poll showed that 73 percent of college graduates are employed fulltime, compared to only 58 percent of those with a high school education or less.

Leticia Miranda is the associate director of the Economic and Employment Policy Project at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.  The Economic and Employment Policy Project provides NCLR’s perspective on employment, energy, retirement, and poverty policy at the federal level.

Anne E. Price has spent 20 years working in a wide range of areas including child welfare, hunger, welfare reform, workforce development, community development and higher education. She is the director of the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap (GRWG) Initiative at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development in Oakland, California. The Insight Center is a national research, consulting, and legal organization dedicated to building economic health in vulnerable communities.