中英對照讀新聞》Student debt a ’life sentence’ for millions of Americans-數百萬美國學子被學貸判「無期徒刑」

美國哈佛大學校舍。（美聯社檔案照）

◎孫宇青

Haley Walters is five years away from earning her law degree. If everything goes according to plan, she will be under a mountain of $100,000 in student debt by the time she enters the work force.

哈蕾‧華特斯還有5年就能拿到法律學位。如果一切按計畫進行，她進入職場時將背負10萬美元（約307萬台幣）的龐大助學貸款。

請繼續往下閱讀...

"Somebody who graduates from a public university this year is expected to have over $35,000 in student loan debt on average," said Cody Hounanian, program director of Student Debt Crisis, a California non-profit organization.

加州非營利組織「學貸危機」主任柯迪‧霍南尼恩說：「今年從公立大學畢業的學生，平均學貸預估超過3.5萬美元（約107萬台幣）。」

According to official statistics, 71 percent of US students are burdened by such debt, with minorities, black women in particular, the hardest hit.

據官方統計，71％的美國學生身負學貸，少數族群受到最大影響，其中又以非裔女性負擔最沉重。

Despite scholarships and financial aid available to many, the cost of higher education is such that the majority of students are unable to repay their loans on schedule. In the long term, the loan balance for such people increases, interest accrues, and the debt burden just keeps going upwards. (AFP)

儘管許多人可拿到獎學金和補助，但高等教育費用高到讓多數人無法如期償還貸款。長期下來，他們的貸款餘額增加、利息孳生，債務負擔只會不斷增加。（法新社）

新聞辭典

life sentence：名詞，無期徒刑。例句：He was given life sentence for committing a series of murders.（他因犯下多起殺人案，被判無期徒刑。）

debt：名詞，負債。例句：She wears different hats to pay off the debts.（為了償清負債，她身兼多職。）

accrue：動詞，積累、孳生。例句：Interest accrues on the account at a rate of 1.5 percent.（這個帳戶的存款以1.5％的利率生息。）

不用抽 不用搶 現在用APP看新聞 保證天天中獎　 點我下載APP　 按我看活動辦法