The Blue Board

I agree. It's a waste of time for people like Roman Abramovich, Paul Allen, Bill Gates, and Larry Ellison. But at least they gave it a shot.

I'm thinking more along the lines of those who could succeed at a technical school and solidify a career in the service industry but instead bog themselves down in student loans because they're told they have to in order to succeed.

Fully agree

I only know one who is going to get hammered paying off student loans, but he went to med school so I think he'll recover (currently doing his radiologist residency in Spartanburg, SC). But I know there are tons and it's a shame that the idea has been drilled into their head.

I and many of the people I were friends with at FSU were lucky enough to graduate with zero debt - Mostly because of Bright Futures Scholarships. I've been out of school since Spring of 2010 and still have never even applied for a credit card.

Saddling young people with debt to get a degree that won't help them find a job does more harm than good.

My aunt made the stupid decision to go to college twice, she is now 36 and is still living with her parents(my grandparents), she pays no rent or bills and she only eats the food her parents provide, basically she has no luxuries because of this i'm pretty sure she hasn't had a boyfriend in like 9 years. All this despite the fact she has a good job, that's what student loan debts do for you. This was the primary reason I decided not to go to college.

Of course you could just question the judgement of anyone that applies for student loans for a worthless degree. Should the governement also cancel home loans that went bad because of a failing housing market?

I went to college for the good times

People getting degrees in what makes them happy (i.e. worthless degrees) has increased our student debt to over a trillion dollars. And it's only going to get worse.

If you want to major in basket weaving, go to a community college. If you want to be a teacher, don't go to an out of state private school where the tuition is $100K a year.

While I agree with the OP to an extent, I think it is vital to a whole and successful society in the 21st century that as many people be well educated as possible. Obviously, one doesn't have to go to college to become a well educated person, but so many people are unable and/or unwilling to educate themselves without the constraints of a classroom structure. I think more importantly than urging a smaller percentage of the population to go to college, we need to encourage people to go to college for the right reasons. We need to encourage young people that it is okay to take 5 years off and become a (more) mature adult before going to college. Generally speaking, they'll have a few years of real work experience, which often induces a stronger work ethic in the classroom, they'll often have a little bit of savings, and they'll often better understand the value of money, which will lead to a students better handling student debt.

How do you get that number? Because its BS.

Most college kids haven't been working enough to have unemployment insurance. When I finished my master's degree in December I couldn't find work for 3 months, but couldn't get unemployment.

The main thing is a kid has to know what they're going to use their degree for, preferably before they ever take a class.

Plus colleges are manufacturing a lot of easy degrees now that really don't qualify you to do much by themselves, so you have to know if you need internships, make sure your gpa is high enough for grad school, etc.