Posted on 05/14/2015 7:24:49 AM PDT by Academiadotorg
Beth Akers of the Brookings Institution, co-author of controversial research on the status of student loans, downplays the significance of the more than $1.3 trillion in debts held by Americans. “Debt is increasing steadily across all levels” of higher education, Akers, who has served as a staff economist to the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors (2007-2008), said at a conference recently in Austin.
Akers blames the economy. “Wage income has been stagnant,” Akers notes, “for a significant period of time.” Yet and still, she claims that, “Large debt burdens are exceedingly rare.”
There is no doubting that tuition and related fees, Akers admits, have risen substantially since about the 1960s. “Price is a concern insofar as it relates to future outcomes,” she stresses whilst placing greater emphasis on hopeful yet unknown factors. College degree holders have not only expectations of but also potential for remarkable returns. Akers thus concludes that “[w]e do not have a crisis on our hands.” The rhetoric regarding escalating deficits is allegedly fallacious. She does acknowledge that “There’s a repayment problem.” Maybe that’s why they call it debt. Drop-outs and graduates alike are struggling to payback their obligations.
However, she argues that “wiping away the debts” is impractical. “Clearly we need more evidence to understand what is happening in this education space,” she said in Austin. She might start with what’s already available.
There are two large contributors to the the problem which many people choose to ignore, both revolving around students’ personal responsibility. First, students get degrees that won’t pay for their debt when they get done with school. Second, immediately out of school students want to live like their parents, who have worked for 30 years to build the lifestyle the students remember in high school.
They focus on getting that great car, house, furniture, etc. immediately rather than focusing on paying the debt for their education. The cumulative debt from their lifestyle choices and schooling choices creates a burden which is hard to overcome. These burdens are theirs and not the fault of the institutions they attend or a result of stagnant wages, IMO.
Wise choices in field of study and lifestyle level keep one from being overwhelmed with debt.
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