> Regardless of whether more education has any financial return.
Interestingly, this is a difficult problem to crack, because it is valuable to have the degree. In 2008, people without a college education were hit the hardest in terms of jobs lost; the jobs for college educated went to basically no growth, but didn't quite tip into job loss.
So if I'm a kid trying to make this decision, do I choose high debt with some chance of having a stable future or a cheap barrier to entry for a job that is likely to crap out as soon as the economy looks bad again?
> they have little to no understanding of—let alone, ironically, education—about personal finance
This is also important to me. Having lived with my parents until college (which I think is the norm), I don't think I would have really understood what it means to pay $500 or $1500 a month on my loans.
Interestingly, this is a difficult problem to crack, because it is valuable to have the degree. In 2008, people without a college education were hit the hardest in terms of jobs lost; the jobs for college educated went to basically no growth, but didn't quite tip into job loss.
So if I'm a kid trying to make this decision, do I choose high debt with some chance of having a stable future or a cheap barrier to entry for a job that is likely to crap out as soon as the economy looks bad again?
> they have little to no understanding of—let alone, ironically, education—about personal finance
This is also important to me. Having lived with my parents until college (which I think is the norm), I don't think I would have really understood what it means to pay $500 or $1500 a month on my loans.