Middle-Income Households Hit Hard with Student Loan Burden
According to the top item in today’s Wall Street Journal, middle income households are experiencing the biggest jump in student loan burden.
The article reads: “The surge is leading many such families to look closer at cost and value when choosing colleges. If the new frugality continues, experts say, it could make it difficult for all but the most selective schools to keep pushing through large tuition increases.”
One family is quoted as being in “financial purgatory – between those with lower incomes who get subsidies and the truly affluent who can afford to pay for college without taking out loans.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444246904577575382576303876.html
This reinforces the need for colleges to look for more affordable ways to deliver a quality education. That is something with Gov. Rick Perry has pushed, along with some other leaders across the country.
With online education growing and paychecks shrinking, many universities will be smart to find ways to cut the cost of education – not just to the student, but to the taxpayer as well.
One university found that freshmen who listed the cost as a “very important factor” increased by almost 21% since 2007. The article points out that Boomers are the first generation to shift the cost of college to their kids.
With the largest sector of unemployed being young people with college degrees or some college, that is a significant factor in their ability to enjoy the American dream.
Couple that with growing government spending and debt, this generation will find it almost impossible to afford the lifestyle their parents did.
That is the real “fairness” issue of this election – is it fair for current taxpayers to grow government spending and debt simply to pass that on to future generations? We don’t think it is.
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