re: how to solve the student loan crisis?

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need to start removing the degree requirement for non-technical jobs and stop using it as a screening tool.

You have to go to college to get a job in many cases because most decent jobs require a college degree.

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This is one factor that many on here are ignoring. Most white collar jobs really don't need 4 years of higher ed to be trained for. Yet the companies require that 4 year degree to even be considered.

I agree that government backed loan programs are a huge part of the problem, but without degree requirements to screen applicants, most wouldnt even be taking out the loans in the first place.

An another answer on the high cost question is that the loan programs, EO/Diversity offices, legal, alumni begging offices, unnecessary new construction and services, etc all cost a lot of money. The actual education part is pretty low on the budget totem pole.

Potentially good news is that forward looking companies are getting looser with degree requirements as they realize that those with degrees feel entitled to more compensation (and need more due to the acquired debt) while an eager candidate without college can be easily trained and will be happy to receive the offered pay, partly bc they aren't saddled with monthly student loan payments.

I plan on living hard and dying before mine are even close to paid off. I win.

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It's not just the schools.

Several businesses have positions that used to not require a degree but only specialization certs that were typically paid for by the company that now require a 4-year degree. I was helping one of my students look for something part-time recently and came across multiple administrative assistant jobs that "preferred" an associates or a 4-year degree. A fricking secretary doesn't need a degree.

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It’s called a saturated market. Most jobs don’t require a four year degree. But because so many people get one now, businesses use it as a weeding out process.

Because college kids these days want schools with lazy rivers and top of the line amenities. Somebody has to pay for that. Additionally, cut backs in state funding of colleges b/c of needs for that money to pay for other exorbitant social welfare programs has caused dramatic year over year increases in tuition.

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What crisis? Pay your damn bills.


This 1000%. WTF are you people even talking about?

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i don't disagree people put themselves into this hole but it's a serious problem. it's seriously delaying, uhh, higher quality people, from buying homes and having children, which will only accelerate the trash demographic trends we are seeing.

What crisis? The fact that people took out the loan and can't pay it back is their crisis not everyone else's crisis!

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It’s called a saturated market. Most jobs don’t require a four year degree. But because so many people get one now, businesses use it as a weeding out process.

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Which is one reason why they need to pull the degree requirement for many non-technical jobs. Stop using it as a lazy screening tool. Companies would likely find more willing workers than people that think the job is beneath them "because they have a degree."

It's getting worse these days. Back when I was looking at chemist positions, a bachelors degree in chemistry gets you a lab tech position. Even some of those said "masters preferred".

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Why is it a crisis? It wasn't a crisis when I paid mine off. It's a crisis because people take the loan with no intention of paying it back.

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there is a social component of guidance counselors failing to adequately explain return on investment to people going to college, which in turn lets ignorant 18 year olds take out untenable loans that are only being given out because the loan is backed on default by our federal government.

1. take the government out of the equation
2. Counsel for the student to make a smart decision about the degree they are seeking
3. Vocational programs need to make a comeback (college isn’t for everyone)
4. community college for electives

Academia has been overpaid for a long time.
College: Where else can you pay for something so expensive with no guarantee that you'll get a job?

They need to get rid of certain degrees that have no real use in the world today.

Keep in mind..the professors don't only make money instructing (they don't TEACH, they instruct) they also make money hand over fist doing consulting work (re: engineering professors).

Bottom line: People still need to pay their loans. If you can't pay for a car, do you buy it and expect someone to bail you out? No.