When most people enter college, they will incur a fair amount of student loan debt. Although it isn’t necessary for most students, it’s what usually ends up happening for one reason or another. It is a problem that will plague most graduates for many many years after they graduate.
To solve the problem, we must first understand it, so let us examine some facts about the student debt crisis that is facing our young adults today.
1.) 52% percent of college graduates strongly or somewhat agree student loan debt is hindering their career choices.
2.) In 2012, 71% of all students graduating from four-year colleges had student loan debt.
3.) Average debt levels for all graduating seniors with student loans rose to $29,400 in 2012.
4.) Graduates who received Pell Grants, most of whom had family incomes under $40,000, were much more likely to borrow and to borrow more.
5.) Families have inherited student debt of deceased loved ones.
6.) Giant corporations can file for bankruptcy, but bankruptcy is not an option for student borrowers.
7.) Americans owe more in student loan debt than credit card debt.
8.) The majority of borrowers still paying back their loans are in their 30s or older.
9.) The unemployment rate for college graduates under the age of 25 is over 9%.
10.) According to a recent survey by Twentysomething Inc., a staggering 85 percent of college seniors planned to move back home after graduation last May.
11.) Since 1999, student debt has increased more than 500 percent. Since 2000, the average salary for young people has decreased by 10 percent.
12.) There are about two million recent college graduates that are currently unemployed.
13.) In 1992, there were 5.1 million “underemployed” college graduates in the United States. In 2008, there were 17 million “underemployed” college graduates in the United States.
14.) With seven million Americans defaulting on their student loans, this also means that seven million Americans will have their personal credit plummet and be deemed un-hirable by many employers as a result.
This is fascinating, interesting, and disturbing. How will we ever get our heads back above water? Many of us have yet to find out, but if this issue continues on the path that it is going on, it could spell disaster for this country.
