Case

Privatization & Financial Burden- I am using a study called Sick of Our Loans: Student Borrowing and the Mental Health of Young Adults in the United States. The authors of this study are Katrina M Walsemann, Gilbert C Gee and Danielle Gentile. Originally, this was going to be used for my counter argument but I have found the use in it and the fact that it is perfect for my argument. This study portrays the exact feelings that I am looking into. A quote that was picked out by an Article that The Atlantic has used to sum it up. The article, The Mental and Physical Toll os Student Loans, states "Those with greater financial strain perceived more stress, had more symptoms of depression, anxiety and ill-health." Growing debt only makes these feelings worse. While the study stated that cumulative loans (not ones they need to pay off while in school) generated greater psychological functioning, the biggest point is that it only improves what is already poor. This will only continue to infect students as tuition has increased by 250 perfect over the past three decades. The Atlantic also cite a study from Northwestern University stating that students who had debt reported higher blood pressure. High blood pressure is a huge indicator of stress. The details of this case is exactly what I need to back up that financial burden is effecting the mental health of students. I can then incorporate privatization and how it only heightens these issues.

Academic Stress- I took a very interesting turn and used a a piece about privatization to back up my point that academic stress causes anxiety and poorer performance. This is through the divide that privatization and financial burden bring to students. I used Armstrong and Hamilton's Paying for the Party: How College maintains Inequality to support my point. In "Chapter 7: Achievers, Underachievers and the Professional Pathway," they visit the college experience of two students, Taylor and Emma. The story portrays how Taylor having private support for her college via parental payment and parental guidance left her with an impeccable GPA and an into dental school. Emma did not have the same support and was labeled an underachiever, and left school with a 3.0 and no clear path beyond a dental assistants job. I was trying to find a way to show how privatization makes financial burden higher, thus putting pressure on students to do well to make up for debt. This pressure can cause a lot of anxiety and a deterioration in mental health and thus leading to poor performance.

On campus resources- For my on campus resources, I am used Ed Finkel's Tangled in Blue, which is a meta survey across college campuses. It interviews not only students put the employees working at the on campus locations for counseling. It reveals the disparities of these outlets and you get many direct quotes of both ends saying how they feel on the matter. From there, it presents ways that resources can be tailored to mend the issue of resources.