Graph Source: Wall Street Journal 4/27/2012
I often hear students and their parents say that a “good job” or long term financial security is THE reason to go to college. Well, with total student debt expected to be $1 Trillion in 2012 (which is greater than the total outstanding credit card debt in the U.S.), and job prospects fluctuating for recent college graduates, can students and their parents continue to rationalize the benefits of college outweigh the costs?
When I came home saying I’d changed my major and career choice from International Business with a focus on Asia to Ethnic Studies, my parents kinda looked at me funny, shrugged and told me to do what I wanted. That was in 1993. Do parents and students have the privilege today that I did 20 years ago, especially with continued forecasts of double digit tuition increases at the University of California, where I earned my bachelors?
While there’s value in having additional time to “find oneself” and “grow up”, which are also part of college life, can current generations afford the luxury?
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