The U.S. Congress chose to double the interest rate on student loans on July 1. Technically, the rate was already set to increase, and they only allowed it to happen by doing nothing. But either way, the end effect on students across the nation is the same: even more money owed after graduation.
Combined with recent state funding cutbacks and soaring tuition, this increase shows that education simply isn’t a priority for our nation anymore.
The major effect of the rate increase is that the burden of educating the next generation is being dumped by the rest of the nation onto the shoulders of the young. 
It’s a sad development in a sad situation. Students are leaving college already enslaved to banks. They can owe tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal debt even before they’ve made their first dime.
Some won’t be able to pay it back. Students will live with this debt for their entire lives, since student loans are not typically escapable through bankruptcy like other forms of debt. 
So why would anyone subject themselves to this inescapable debt to get a college degree?
Because it’s increasingly necessary to make any real amount of money in the workforce. Of American jobs, 60 percent now require some sort of college degree, compared with 26 percent only 40 years ago, according to a study by Georgetown University.
When students are faced with risking a lifetime of debt in order to have a shot at a comfortable life, it’s clear why so many college students choose to take the gamble on student loans.
Education should be one of the basic privileges of civilization. Passing on knowledge from one generation to the next is what has built the pyramid on which all human achievement rests.
Young people should be able to enter into society with a decent education — a rite of passage that they pay off in the form of taxes as they earn money throughout their life. 
But as recent moves from the national and state government show, our nation has decided that the burden of education should fall to the younger generation.
Even worse, the U.S. government makes a profit on the interest of student loans, even accounting for inflation. So not only are politicians trying to shift out of paying for the next generation’s education, they are making themselves a quick buck as well.
The U.S. government and big banks that dole out these loans are profiting by enslaving the next generation to thousands in debt, a truly bizarre and backwards situation.
Yet the nation as a whole is largely complacent. The reason for this has to do with the changing age demographics of the U.S.
Modern medicine allows people to live longer, and families are having fewer children. This makes for a society with more older people than younger.
These older voters want things like healthcare, social security and stocks. Having graduated decades ago, they have little interest in education. Politicians are fully aware of this and have tailored their campaigns appropriately.
With this change in age demographics, it’s no wonder that in recent years the focus of political debate has revolved around topics like “Obamacare” and the stock market. Unfortunately for students, this means that education is less and less of a priority. And as our state government has shown time and time again, education is the first thing cut when looking for some extra spending cash.
While the politicians making these cuts to education should bear the brunt of the blame, they are only able to do so because of the older generation’s widespread indifference to education. 
So to the older generation reading this: the recent decline in education funding isn’t technically your fault. But just like Congress, you aren’t really doing anything to stop it either.
Robert Klare is a 22-year-old engineering senior from New Orleans.