The real debt crisis

By Katrina vanden Heuvel
The Washington Post
May 17, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-real-debt-crisis/2011/05/16/AFtxEp5G_story.html

It's college commencement season in America, a time of
excitement and celebration. For the millions who will
graduate this year, the events of this month and next
represent not just the end of college but the beginning of a
new and meaningful chapter in their lives.

That chapter, for most, however, will be accompanied by hefty
student loan payments. According to the Wall Street Journal,
the average debt for a bachelor's degree recipient in 2011
will reach almost $23,000, making this year's graduating
class the most debt-burdened in history. In fact, student
loan debt is expected to outpace credit card debt, probably
reaching more than $1 trillion this year.

This is partly a function of tuition, which the Wall Street
Journal reports has increased at a rate of 5 percent a year.
It is also a function of a flailing economy in which parents
are far less able to help their children pay for college.
It's no wonder that a staggering 85 percent of 2011 college
graduates are moving back home after graduation.

Still, for many, if not most, college students, the decision
to take out loans to pay for a college degree will be one of
the most important investments they will ever make in their
future, and the cost of repayment, while historically high,
will be worth it. Last month's jobs report found that the
unemployment rate among college graduates was 4.5 percent,
half of the national unemployment rate. And according to a
College Board report cited by the New York Times, the median
bachelor's degree recipient working full-time in 2008 made 65
percent more than the median high school graduate.

But there is a growing group of students who will find a
harsh reality when they enter - or at least try to enter -
the workforce. These are the students who have enrolled in
the growing industry of for-profit colleges.

To read more, go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-real-debt-crisis/2011/05/16/AFtxEp5G_story.html

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