The delinquencies only get worse
Even though the problems are festering student debt is becoming a problematic liability class:
What is disturbing is that delinquencies have only gotten worse throughout the so-called recovery. For those under 30, the amount of student debt that is delinquent is upwards of 35 percent. The lights are flashing red that a problem is definitely here.
What is equally troubling is the fact that student debt is now the most problematic debt class in the United States (for consumer debt):
This is not a good sign. Yet the unrelenting lending continues unabated. All of the $1.2 trillion (minus 15%) is owned or backed by the government. Great! So gear up for another bailout. When you chart out the growth of student debt merely in the last decade you realize that something is amiss here:
There is a big disconnect somewhere in the system. College graduates are paying more yet earning less. You see a near mutiny in the law school ranks since many lawyers are graduating with mortgage like debt and are competing for entry level positions unrelated to law.
Underutilization of degrees
Over half of college graduates are working careers where their degree is not being utilized. Take a look at this chart:
Obviously having a well-rounded academic background is important to being an intelligent human being. But is it necessary to pay $50,000 per year for this? What is it truly worth? Many will argue that education is priceless and given what some are willing to pay, I think many believe this fully.
The above chart should cause you to pause. What does it tell you that over 50 percent of college graduates are underemployed in the US? Even more problematic, how is this going on during a stock market boom? In reality, wages are being squeezed and you have many college graduates simply beating out lower skilled competition for those employment numbers.
Education is absolutely valuable. Yet consider that it now costs $62,000 a year to go to NYU:
“(Daily Mail) A list released by the Department of Education lists the colleges and universities with the highest tuition in the country.Do the math here: $62,000 x 4 = $248,000
New York University, NYU is the country’s most expensive school with tuition costing $61,977 a year.”
So for 4-years assuming the listed tuition, someone is going to pay out nearly a quarter-million dollars?! Sure sounds reasonable to me given that one third of Americans have no savings and half are living paycheck to paycheck. Then you wonder why student loans are now the most problematic consumer debt class in America.
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