NY Times: Student Debt Mounts, Shifting Graduates’ Options

[marmar]

Student Debt Mounts, Shifting Graduates’ Options

By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: April 11, 2011


Student loan debt outpaced credit card debt for the first time last year and is likely to top a trillion dollars this year as more students go to college and a growing share borrow money to do so.

While many economists say student debt should be seen in a more favorable light, the rising loan bills nevertheless mean that many graduates will be paying them for a longer time.

“In the coming years, a lot of people will still be paying off their student loans when it’s time for their kids to go to college,” said Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com, who has compiled the estimates of student debt, including federal and private loans.

Two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients graduated with debt in 2008, compared with less than half in 1993. Last year, graduates who took out loans left college with an average of $24,000 in debt. Default rates are rising, especially among those who attended for-profit colleges. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/education/12college.html?_r=1&hp

[OhioChick]

1. Didn't Obama tell us to go back to school to re-train?

How about those JOBS now?

[shireen]

2. really discouraging

Dr. Housing Bubble also covered this story in his latest blog.

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/education-of-the-housing-market-student-loan-debt-and-falling-birth-rates-slow-demand-for-the-first-time-buyer-market-sallie-mae-debt/

[hayu_lol]

3. Many students look around after finishing the BA/BS and decide...

to just stay in school for an advanced degree. Good way to hide out from the workplace for another few years. Better to be in school than to be unemployed.