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1. College education is expensive because of a lack of free-market competition (socialized education). Change the rules regarding student loans so that schools that accept student loans don't have to accept the curriculum of the federal government. Hillsdale is one such school. The loan must be paid back. If the borrower wants to study basket weaving, why should the feds care?

2. The housing market is tight because of rent control in many cities. Rent control always leads to housing shortages, which leads to higher rents.

3. The tight job market is because too many students think the quick and easy way to big bucks is through technology. Regardless what your stance on offshoring is and whether it will eventually lead to more jobs, its effect right now is a shortage of high-tech jobs for Americans WITH experience. College grads with no experience have only the lower-starting salary going for them. What they need is better career counseling earlier in their education so that they have more than one option open to them.

4. I suspect that many of these graduates could live on their own but that it wouldn't be luxurious. They were raised, for the most part, expecting near-immediate gratification and nice, new consumer items. Maybe they just don't like having to rough it? I don't know, just a thought.

5. This is another attempt to apply generational labels to people, thus allowing them to feel like victims. "It's not me, it's everyone my age. I'm helpless to change." Such people are very vulnerable to representation by special-interest groups that petition the government. Each individual can cut their own trail.

6. This will probably be used by Leftists to begin some sort of government program. "A 10-billion dollar initiative to help these college kids get a start. They've worked hard. They deserve it. Let's help em out with their housing. Let's create more jobs with the government to get em in the job market."

OK. I'm off my soapbox. It's just that this article wreaks of victimization and a lack of individual responsibility.

What they need is better career counseling earlier in their education

No kidding. The career counseling office of my highly ranked alma mater just encourages kids in whatever silly plan they come in babbling about. It was like that when I was in school and is the same 20 years later. I often help current students with their resumes, usually after the career counseling office has done so, and I've been appalled at what those "professionals" tell kids "looks great".

One of my favorites was that of a very smart science/math major, with a high GPA, whose only weakness was language skills (at least she had the excuse that English wasn't her first language; the same can't be said for the career counselors). She was seeking a 1-2 year research position before going to medical school (one of the small percentage of students with sensible and realistic career plans). Her resume included the usual: unclear wording, jumbled chronology, names of college extracurricular organizations with no indication of what it was (e.g. Assistant Editor of The Acorn). But the real fun was the categories it was arranged into. It started out with a brief section headlined EDUCATION, followed by an even briefer section headlined RELEVANT EXPERIENCE, and a long section headlined OTHER EXPERIENCE. Most of the "other experience" was actually quite respectable and relevant, but you couldn't even get to the beginning of it without at least subconsciously thinking "And here's her IRRELEVANT EXPERIENCE".