In this day and age, there are a lot fewer jobs that don’t require a degree of some sort. Attending college has become commonplace. Even though students are leaving with a diploma, there are also a lot of students who are leaving with a lot of debt on top of that.

Luckily, President Obama has announced a new plan to help students with these kind of financial problems. Although not everyone may agree with Obama’s idea, it could provide a lot of relief for the pockets of college grads.

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Obama announced this new plan would decrease the required payment on student loans to 10 percent of annual income. Originally this was supposed to start in 2014, but it is now starting next year.

Obama’s reasoning for supporting this was that he doesn’t want people to feel unstable when it comes to moving out, buying a house, making car payments and generally contributing to the ailing economy.

This would lift a great weight off the shoulders of college graduates. There are a lot of college students, myself included, who are about to graduate and are nervous about finding a job due to our economy.

What’s even more nerve-wracking is the thought of having to pay off thousands dollars worth of loans with no job. This action would ease a lot of tension for people because college students wouldn’t have to jump into the “grown-up” world starting with piles of unmanageable debt.

Opponents may wonder where this money will come from. According to the Tribune article, no additional costs will be put on taxpayers. It is simply to help students save possibly hundreds of dollars a month by decreasing the amount of payment required.

The plan also “forgives” outstanding debts after 20 years instead of the original plan’s 25 years. It will also be beneficial because aside from helping students get out of debt, it helps prevent them from developing a poor credit score that might affect their financial choices later in life.

Students shouldn’t have to second guess pursuing higher education purely because of financial stress. It wouldn’t be fair to the students who aren’t as fortunate.

Unfortunately, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann doesn’t share the same enthusiasm. In an article in the Chicago Tribune, Bachmann claims that Obama’s plan to assist students with debt is “an abuse of power.” Bachmann insists that it would in fact affect taxpayers, and that it’s about keeping financial promises. “The individual needs to repay and be responsible for repaying their student loan debt,” Bachmann said.

Although I see Bachmann’s point that people need to stay committed to their financial agreements, my first thought was that if our generation is the future leaders and workers of this country, how are we supposed to succeed when we can’t support ourselves?

Obama’s plan should be looked at as an opportunity for college students to get ahead. It’s not saying that they can escape paying off their bills; it’s giving a helping hand to the future of our nation.