Does it provide an opportunity for education or is it the beginning of the path to indentured servitude?

The desire to earn a degree in optometry is one that many follow - with the aid of student loans. Often these loans are the only means of paying for an optometric education, which continues to increase in cost each year.

While the availability of student loans on the front end seems a great advantage, the resulting student debt can have far-reaching effects that are only truly appreciated once repayment begins.

When I talk to students from the different optometry schools around the country, the main topic of conversation soon turns to the looming repayment of student loans. After my most recent conversation with a group of students I realized that student debt plays a major role in shaping the future of our profession.

There seems to be a point where students, in their last two years of optometry school, become increasingly aware that the repayment of student loans will become a reality sooner than they would like to think.

The third and fourth years of optometry school were once a time for students to turn their attention to practice opportunities.

Now, to a large degree, these students seem only interested in where they, as optometrists, can secure a job that will allow them to service their student debt.