Tax season is finally over — thank goodness! — but you know what’s pretty much never over? Paying-back-your-college-loans season. Thankfully, here’s a little something that might alleviate the stress for a few minutes (three and a half minutes, in fact): Actress and performer Chanel Carroll’s genius parody of Beyonce’s “Partition,” titled (what else?) “Tuition.” Recent college graduates everywhere, here’s your new anthem.
It’s funny, sure, but it also makes a powerful point. “Tuition” speaks to the fact that student debt is at an awful new high; back in December, it came out that as of 2012, the average debt of graduating seniors is nearly $30,000. Nearly 20 million Americans attend college each year, of which 12 million — 60 percent — borrow annually to cover costs. There are currently 37 million student loan borrowers with outstanding debts today, and the numbers aren’t shrinking. Not only that, but recent studies have found that these numbers aren’t because Millenials are bad with money; on the contrary, we’re actually ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding the need for savings. The problem is that so many of us are entering the working world with crippling student debt, on top of job opportunities being significantly fewer and lower paying than they have been with previous generations. As Carroll sings, all we really want is to live a debt-free life.
As Slate points out, this isn’t the first “Partition” parody to hit the Internet; nor is it the first one called “Tuition.” It is, however, the first one written from the point of a graduate, rather than a current student. Not that it makes the situation any better or more worthy of attention; I’d actually argue that taking the two of them together paints the most complete image of the plight of the current generation possible, showing that the problems that start in college don’t just magically disappear when we graduate — they get worse. Awesome grades and finishing at the top of your class won’t stop the debt collectors from knocking on your door.
But hey, at least we can all commiserate together, right? And it’s even better when we’ve got someone with a set of pipes this good singing for us. Beyonce might want to watch out — Chanel Carroll is on the rise!
Image: cdc1119/YouTube
