What we know about student loan debt is sobering enough.
"The average student loan debt for a U.S. graduate of the Class of 2013 was $28,400, according to the Project on Student Debt," said Deborah Figart of the School of Education, at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. "Each month, young adults are burdened with 25% to 30% or more of their net pay dedicated to student loan debt."
The total outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. has now surpassed $1.2 trillion. A September 2014 report by the credit bureau Experian found student loans in the U.S. had surged 84% since the Great Recession, with more than 40 million consumers having at least 1 student loan.
It's a debt burden that many recent graduates – and especially those who left school before graduating – cannot easily bear. In its Project on Student Debt, the Institute for College Access & Success reports that more than 650,000 federal student loan borrowers who began repaying their loans in 2011 had defaulted by 2013. The institute reported that students who attended for-profit colleges had a much higher average default rate than other types of schools: 19.1%, compared to 7.2% at nonprofit colleges.
Horror stories
Behind those statistics are specific horror stories. Figart says she has heard from graduates with tens of thousands of dollars in interest-accruing debt but are earning minimal wages. She's heard from law school graduates who can't get a license to practice, despite passing the necessary bar exams, because of a bad credit record.
She says there are restaurant school graduates hoping to become chefs but earning a fraction of what they owe for their degree peeling potatoes.
While the Experian report shows 40 million consumers with at least 1 student loan, Figart says the reality is actually worse. She says the average student has around 8 to 10 loans and the total student debt far outweighs the nation's total credit card bills.
Solution?
The answer, Figart says, is giving prospective college students full and transparent advice before they take out loans for an education that will follow them from campus to the workplace. She says the federal "Know Before You Owe Private Student Loan Act" does not go far enough in several ways and so also fails to protect students from debt.
Figart has taught financial and economic literacy to students and teachers, covering subjects related to budgeting and consumer debt. And, while some states require courses to include a component related to budgeting and finance, she contends too many students are "falling through the cracks."
The solution? Figart says students must be counseled in topics like loan repayment options, average salaries for a wide range of jobs, suggested debt-to-income ratios, and the likely consequences of defaulting on loan repayments.
"In an economy where job security and job quality are increasingly elusive, students pursue higher education as an investment, not simply a means of personal fulfillment," she said. While financial counseling may dash the dreams of some or at least postpone those dreams, it could nevertheless save thousands of students from a fate worse than debt.”