<p>Today's New York Times describes "A Dangerous 'New Normal' in College Debt"</p>
<p>And we have this counterbalancing view from WSJ:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1468880-young-adults-retreat-piling-up-debt.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1468880-young-adults-retreat-piling-up-debt.html</a></p>
<p>Is the glass half empty or half full?</p>
<p>In the 1960’s and 70’s , companies were more than happy to hire people right out of high school and train them. In today’s society we are not only competing with Americans- we are competing with people from around the world who are more than happy to take any job in America. There just aren’t enough jobs in America- so naturally people go for higher education in hopes that they will be hired. People who fail to join in the game will be left behind…</p>
<p>According to statistics provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, there is somewhere between 902 billion and 1 trillion dollars in outstanding student debt (American Student Assistance, 2013). While debt is considered bad, it doesn’t have to be if the student knows how to properly manage it. The results of the National Financial Literacy Test, sent to students aged 15 -1 8, show that only 59.6% of students are able to effectively understand topics such as financial psychology (i.e. spending wisely and saving habits), credit and debit, budgeting, and risk management; key skills for anyone who is financially wise (Website). When this test was globally distributed, the most financially literate students were ones from Shanghai, China (Shin, 2014). Among all 18 countries who participated in this test, the United States ranked 10th. </p>
<p>The numbers are attention getting. An increase from 400B in 2004 to a trillion 10 years later? That’s about 3000 for every breathing person in the US. (one trillion/300 million) Allocated among the people who borrowed it, its much higher, and likely to be largely unserviceable, not to mention repayable. </p>
<p>I agree with Charles Blow’s concluding thoughts, but I’m guessing that my solution and his are likely to be polar opposites. </p>
<p>Is the federal government guaranteeing most of this? </p>
<p>In 1979 there were 19.6 million manufacturing jobs, which was 21.6% of all jobs in a labor force of 104.6 million.
In 2013 manufacturing provides 9.9% of all jobs in a labor force of 155.8 million with 11.8 million unemployed.
Becoming more educated in an effort to stay employed seems like a logical plan.</p>
<p>It all depends if carefull research was done and affordable option was selected. Many just do not think this way. There is nothing to complain about. College loan debt is a family choice and absolutely nothing else. </p>
<p>It is a choice but a college degree seems to be needed just to get into the door of many jobs. My husband has a 2 year technical degree in engineering and was able to move up the ranks in a major company but hit a dead end about 10 years ago. He is still working for the company and contributes as an engineer, but he no longer gets any raises as he is at the ceiling of his pay grade. Despite tries from supervisors, he cannot move to the next pay grade because he does not have a 4 year degree. (Now he wouldn’t even get hired for a lesser position.) I have worked in the secretary/administrative field for years, but cannot find a full-time job right now at a bigger company as most in our area require a 4 year degree for this. Unless you are able to get an apprentiship in a trade or get a job in a hot technical field only requiring 2 years of education (CNC programming, etc.), a college degree is needed to be able to support yourself and your family. It is too bad that the cost is too much for some students.</p>