With the economy in a downward spiral of doom, the gulf coast bubbling with oil, Japan wrecked with tsunami damage and nuclear radiation, and an American Political climate that is at best increasingly hostile, no one really is in the mood for more bad news....Unfortunately I have some.
More and more students are embarking down the that dark forest path towards the ginger bread house of student loans. Sure it looks delicious. Someone else is writing the check after all! You get all the education you could want! You get that dream job and future you never thought was possible without help from the nice little old lady.
But one day, and a day sooner then most who take out these loans imagine, the little old lady reveals her true identity. A wicked witch who used her ginger bread house of free money to lure you in. Not so she could give you your dreams, but so she could eat them.
Student Debt has reached a crisis level. Students are taking out loans for record amounts of money, and starting life in an overwhelming amount of debt. Couple this with the fact that the job market is far from booming and the inevitable outcome is a society where everyone owes money and no one is making it. This trend has to be averted.
A large part of the problem with student loans is the unrealistic way in which they are approached. Every loan has to be weighed as an investment. Students need to ask that tough question, Is the amount of debt I'm procuring worth the result it will help me achieve. Far to often higher education is viewed as a necessity. Society still believes that having that degree is worth any amount of money because they will make so much more money in the long run. At one time this was true, and maybe its still true today, but its definitely becoming more debatable.
Many students are spending thousands of dollars on education in fields that are not hiring. They end up finding jobs not even related to their degree, and the fact of the matter is, they could have achieved these same jobs at a much cheaper price.
I'm not saying education in not important. I'm saying the time to start being more realistic about education is now. Society cant support a working class made up entirely of those with degrees. In fact it depends on a strong vocational force. Not everyone needs a B.A., especially not one in I.O.U's
