1.5 Trillion!

[SunsetBengal]

(03-14-2020, 01:25 PM)Dill Wrote: STudent loans have helped millions through college, helping the nation in general.

Why are they irresponsible debt?

I guess that would be more of my opinion, than anything.  I'll use myself as the "good example of a bad example".  Back when I was in HS (class of '87), the guidance counselors just hammered us with the idea that we MUST have a 4 year degree, in order to be competitive in society.  Not sure if it was the same everywhere else, but they made it seem like settling for anything less than a 4 year degree was selling yourself short, and that two year and trade school programs were setting oneself up for a life of being a peon.

So, after drifting from crappy job to crappy job for a couple of years after HS, I eventually decided that college must be the way to go.  I really wasn't interested in it, but discovered that it was a great place to have a blast and avoid responsibility for a few years.  Eventually I graduated with a pretty much worthless degree in Mass Communications and a job in radio that wouldn't even afford me to fund my own place to live.  I eventually ditched the job in radio for a trade that I worked for many years.  Thanks to the Student Loan programs, I'm still paying for that degree, today.  Even though I went back to school during the recession to learn a new skill, and paid cash at a Community College.  I now have a salaried position with an Engineering firm.

Had anyone really looked at my aptitudes back in HS, they could have efficiently directed me to a more effective path than pursuing a 4 year degree.  I call it irresponsible on my part, as I should have realized that my heart wasn't into the 4 year college degree and changed my own path back them.  However, the lure of guaranteed student loans to provide for my fun existence in college was just irresistable.