College Degree Debt Huge : Most Deplomas Worthless?

As long as the federal government is in control of the student loan program, nothing will change the disaster that student faces as they walk out of school with a debt that will be hanging round their collective necks for decades.

And what do they have to show for all of that debt? For the most part the average graduates' degree is worthless as a job getter but don't pay any attention to that nonsense, going to school was just for fun. They really had no idea why they went to college.  hmmmm  In the end, of  course, the fun stops when realty becomes the order of the day. No job and a huge debt. How did this happen?

And the question they have to face now is, 'what in the hell do we do now?' Your diploma is not worth the ink that's on it and that it says you spent 6 years of your life and 10's of thousands of dollars in debt getting a degree in 'puppetry' or any number of other inane pursuits, that will only get you into the front door of your parents house.

What ever happened to common sense and good judgment?

Congratulations! Here Is Your Diploma and $27,000 in Student Loan Debt
Source: Diana Furgchtgott-Roth and Jared Meyer, "College Grads are Drowning in Student Debt," Economics 21, May 13, 2015.

May 14, 2015

This month, as 1.8 million newly minted bachelor's degrees are handed out, most graduates will be coming off the stage with much more than a fancy piece of paper. Seventy percent will take an average of $27,000 in student loan debt with them as they try to build their careers after college.

• Almost 40 million people have student loan debt, which is the only category of household debt that continued to rise during the recession, and fifteen percent of borrowers default within the first three years.
• The 90-day delinquency rate on student loan debt is 11 percent. This is higher than the delinquency rate for residential real estate loans (3 percent) and the credit card delinquency rate (7 percent).
• Since 2004, overall student loan debt increased by 325 percent, while all other categories of non-housing debt decreased by 5 percent. Over that time, the number of borrowers owing between $50,000 and $75,000 has doubled, and the number of borrowers owing more than $200,000 has tripled.

Until the underlying reason for increases in college tuition is addressed, student loan burdens will only continue to grow. In a time of high under- and unemployment among college graduates, artificially increasing the costs of college though the current system of federal student aid programs leaves many graduates hopeless and suffocating under heavy debt.