Without a doubt, my diploma will be the most expensive receipt of my lifetime. At 21 years old, I’m facing a student debt that will suffocate my lifestyle for the next 10 years. It will dictate everything from the amount of money I can put away into savings to the type of neighborhood I can afford to live in.

I’m not the only one drowning in this insane amount of debt, of course, affirmed by the nearly 20 million Americans who attend college every year, about 60 percent of them have to borrow annual loans to help cover the costs.

As you can guess, that’s a lot of debt. How much, you ask? $1 trillion, says the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and when you add in the fact $85 billion of that total debt is past due, I’d be willing to bet (or borrow money to bet…) that this debt is signaling towards a bleak economic future, no matter how positive our steady recovery from The Great Recession has been.

I’m part of the four out of five college students working part-time while in school, but with minimum wage set at $7.25 an hour, it looks like the government isn’t going to be getting their money back any time soon, because let’s face it: Student debt is increasing, and unfortunately, the minimum wage standards just can’t keep up with it.

In 1968, the federal minimum wage was set at a whopping $1.60 per hour to keep the average American above the poverty line and increase consumer spending. 45 years later, the equivalent, taking inflation into consideration, is $10.74–but the minimum wage still stubbornly stands at $7.25. According to raisetheminimumwage.com, that hourly wage translates to $15,080 a year for a full-time, year-round worker. Which means this: For average grads, two years is the fastest amount of time they can pay off their loans and that is only if every other expense is eliminated such as gas, groceries, and rent.

Most hourly wages are comparatively set according to the minimum wage. For example, if a clothing store decided to pay their workers a couple dollars above the minimum wage then there is a big difference between what their employees would receive if the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, or $10.74 per hour. It’s hard to argue that those few extra dollars per hour would not benefit every college student in America.

If the minimum wage was raised then it would create a positive ripple effect through this generation of college students. Students would be able to save more money, which means there wouldn’t be a need to take out such gigantic loans. Our country would then start to decrease its overall debt since the vast majority of it is caused by student loans. In addition, loans would be getting paid off faster after graduation even if the employment rate stays as is.

The question most out-of-touchers have is, “Why don’t college grads just go out and get a real job?” Unfortunately, the numbers continue to bear bad omens. Last year the Associated Press released that about 53.6 percent of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 were jobless or underemployed. The fact of the matter is that the job outlook is bleak for grads. Part-time work is the most realistic option available while sifting through want-ads and interviews.

The average student loan balance for all age groups, according to American Student Assistance is $24,301. To offer a little personal perspective, for my final semester, I had to scrape up the last of my total allotted amount from student financial aid; three and a half years later I’ve racked up a grand total of $31,000 from Michigan State University. It’s a forlorn reality that goes against the childhood go-to-school, get-good-grades, and-a-good-job-will-follow fairy tale we heard growing up.

There will be a never ending cycle of Americans going to college, which means a never ending cycle of debt for both students and the government. Something has to be fixed before college becomes the second Darwinism: Survival of the Richest.

Image via