Student Loans Bubble
www.pbs.org Above link to PBS doc College Inc Below article that came out in the Kansas City Star on Saturday Jan 15th For-profit colleges are fighting a proposed rule that would cut off their pipeline to federal student loans if too many students default on those loans. At the other end of the higher education spectrum, law schools are fending off accusations that they, too, entice students to take on mountainous debt, knowing many graduates won’t be able to find jobs at salaries high enough to pay off their loans. Public and private colleges and universities are facing related problems. Overall, students and schools are tacking into a perfect storm. Students are told their lifelong earning potential hinges on getting a college degree. But state support for public universities has tanked, as have endowments at private colleges. Meanwhile, the average cost of tuition and fees has increased by 466 percent over the last 25 years, more than four times the rate of inflation. For most families, money to finance college isn’t readily available. But student aid is, especially federally backed loans. The average college senior in 2009 graduated 000 in debt — and facing the bleakest job market in more than a decade. Experts warn that higher education is the next bubble about to burst. More than 0 billion in public and private student loan debt is outstanding, but only 40 percent is actively being repaid. Graduates who default on federally backed loans eventually will find …
