The myth of the student loan crisis

OK degreeinfo, what has the Atlantic not considered?

The Myth of the Student-Loan Crisis - Nicole Allan and Derek Thompson - The Atlantic

 

Just read the comments posted under the article for alternative views.

A few points:

Chart 3 indicates that students with $100,000+ in debt are "rare". This is probably true for students who only study at the undergraduate level (which is most students). But for those who do study at the graduate level (law school, business school, medical school, etc), six-figure debt is not rare.

Chart 4 is for "Adults 25+" (according to the little note at bottom). This includes people who left school decades ago. The median income with a bachelor's degree for all adults 25+ may be $1,053/week -- but unfortunately, that doesn't reflect the salary that a newly-minted BA can expect to get today.

Chart 5 must also reflect historical data. Unfortunately, past performance is no guarantee of future results. No one doubts that college was a great investment a generation ago -- but today's students are paying much higher tuition, taking out much bigger loans, and entering a much worse job market than those a generation ago. They aren't going to get the same ROI.

 

The simplest response:

If student loans are such a great investment, then how come the delinquency rate on those loans is 11% and rising ?

The 11 % rate is an average -- it is higher for more recent graduates. For students who left school in 2008-09, the default rate is already 13.4 %.