Student Debt

See: Student Loan Crisis.

It’s not tax-deductible. It’s high. Students take out loans. They can’t get jobs. Sounds like a recipe for a whole lotta fun, right?

Yeah, not so much. You have 18-year-olds who have no idea how the world works, barely knowing that it’s round instead of flat. They make what is basically a quarter-million dollar decision to borrow money to go to a private school, or even a public one for, say, half that dough (still a ton of money). And we let them borrow that money.

Our fault? Their fault? We don’t force them to do the math. They’re going to be semi-qualified to take a modest-paying job unless they major in a hardcore tech school. So most liberal arts majors stand to make maybe $35k-$40k when they graduate. After taxes, that $40k becomes something like $34k (or a bit less) in a Blue State. They then have food and rent and Uber and clothing and a gym pass and travel home at Thanksgiving and condoms. The money goes away fast. Yet they graduate with $150k in debt, with interest payable at 8%, or $12k a year in interest payments. With loan pay down requirements, the bill is something closer to $20,000.

How could they possibly do it? How could they do anything other than go bankrupt? Had “we” adults stopped them, we’d be called “irresponsible,” “dream-takers,” or “life-suckers." But we didn’t. So now all these kids are graduating schools with mountains of debt they likely can’t ever pay off.

What a great way to start adult life, huh?