Lawmakers in Washington are debating education issues, including the interest rate that students pay for loans. College students who take loans graduate earning an average of $26,000. But some economists say the real issue is controlling the costs of college. Experts say these high costs are hurting the whole economy.

　　華盛頓立法者正對教育問題進行辯論，其中包括學生支付的貸款的利息。申請貸款的大學生畢業(yè)后平均收入2.6萬美元，但有的經(jīng)濟學家稱真正的問題是控制大學的成本。專家稱高成本影響了整個經(jīng)濟。

　　Joshua Jordan earned a doctorate degree in physical therapy. "I am currently in debt for $210,000."

　　約書亞·喬丹獲得了理療專業(yè)的博士學位，他說，“我現(xiàn)在欠了21萬美元?！?/span>

　　Joshua Jordan has eight times the loan debt of the average student. He says he has sometimes need to work two jobs to pay his bills.

　　約書亞·喬丹欠的債是一般學生的八倍，他說有時只得做兩份工作來償還貸款。

　　For the past 30 years, college tuition has been increasing at twice the rate of inflation. Universities say decreasing financial support from state governments forces them to charge higher tuition. Private colleges now charge an average of more than $30,000 a year.

　　在過去30年間，大學學費的增長率是通脹率的兩倍。各大學稱來自國家政府的財政支持減少了，因此只得收取高學費。私立大學目前每年的學費超過3萬美元。

　　Terry Hartle speaks for The American Council on Education which represents thousands of colleges across the United States.

　　特里·哈特爾就職于美國教育委員會，該組織代表全美的數(shù)千所大學。

　　"It's a terrible conundrum that we face as a country. We want more and more post-secondary education. We want more focus on academic quality and graduation. At the same point, the funding sources for higher education have been diminishing for a generation."

　　“這是我們國家面臨的大難題，我們希望有更多的高等教育，我們希望更重視學術(shù)質(zhì)量和畢業(yè)。同時，對這一代來說，高等教育的資金來源在減少。”

　　Experts worry that the high cost of college makes it less likely that good students from poor families will attend college, this means fewer scientists, engineers and others who could help increase economic growth. And a survey shows that some students concerned about repaying thousands of dollars in loans are delaying marriage and children.

　　專家擔心大學學費的上漲使得貧困家庭的好學生無法上大學，這意味著將培養(yǎng)出更少的科學家、工程師等人才來促進經(jīng)濟發(fā)展。一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，有的學生擔心支付數(shù)千美元的貸款會使結(jié)婚生子推遲。

　　Peter Mazareas is with the College Savings Foundation.

　　Peter Mazareas就職于大學儲蓄基金會。

　　"These students will not contribute to the economy. They will go home and live at home. They won't buy cars. They won't invest in housing, so there is a real multiplier effect that is short term.

　　“這些學生將無法對經(jīng)濟做出貢獻，他們將回家，生活在家里，他們不會買車，不會投資房屋，所以這在短期會導致多重效應?！?/span>

　　Georgetown University Labor Economist Anthony Carnevale says the current system cuts economic growth for the whole country.

　　喬治城大學勞工經(jīng)濟學家安東尼·卡內(nèi)瓦說，目前的制度削弱了整個國家的經(jīng)濟發(fā)展。

　　"The effects on economic growth [of failing to produce post secondary talent] are substantial. If we had kept up with demand for post secondary talent, economists estimate that we would be at about $500 billion more per year in gross domestic product, that is people would have more money to spend. "

　　“未能培養(yǎng)出高等人才會對經(jīng)濟發(fā)展產(chǎn)生重大影響，如果我們能滿足對高等人才的需求，經(jīng)濟學家估計每年的國民生產(chǎn)總值將增加5000億美元，這樣人們就有更多錢花了。”

　　Meanwhile, Physical Therapist Joshua Jordan says his family is not wealthy and could not have paid for his education.

　　同時，理療學家約書亞·喬丹說，自己家庭并不富裕，無法為自己的教育買單。

　　"There would have been no way I could have created a career for myself that I wanted to do without the use of student loans."

　　“如果沒有學生貸款，我就沒辦法追求自己想做的事業(yè)?！?/span>

　　So for Joshua Jordan, his large debt was worth it.

　　所以對約書亞·喬丹來說，自己的高額貸款還是值得的。

　　The Department of Education recently reported that today one-third of Americans between ages of 25 and 29 who earn college degrees that is an increase from one-fourth in 1995.

　　教育部最近報道稱，如今年齡在25到29歲之間的美國人中有三分之一的人有大學學位，與1995年的四分之一相比有所增長。

　　And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English.

　　這里是美國之音慢速英語教育報道。

　　詞匯解釋

　　1.conundrum n. 難題;謎語

　　Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.

　　科學家已鎖定兩種解釋來解開這個難題。

　　2.contribute to 有助于;捐獻

　　Your success should contribute to the success of others!

　　你的成功應能有助于他人的成功!

　　3.multiplier effect 乘數(shù)效應

　　Only scientific treatment, the multiplier effect can be achieved.

　　只有科學治療, 才能取得事半功倍的療效.