Nearly one-in-five households have student loans

CNN ^ | 09/27/2012 | Tami Luhby

[SeekAndFind]

A record number of American households have student loan debt.

Some 19% of households had student loans in 2010, up from 15% just three years earlier, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center released Wednesday.

Student debt has exploded in recent years as more people attend college, more turn to debt to finance it, and more take out bigger loans while in school, said Richard Fry, a senior economist at Pew who authored the report. This is bucking the trend of Americans shedding debt during the Great Recession and its aftermath.

[traditional1]

The word is out that you can get "Obama Money" so get the cash, spend it, and let somebody else (aka, Taxpayers) pay the banks (they won't lose a dime).

THIS is the Entitlement Mentality that America has become.

[RetiredTexasVet]

I wonder of those 1 in 5 households if there has been a survey to determine if those student loans produced a degree and a job commensurate with the degree for those individuals? I would discount waitressing at Dennys as an appropriate job for a person with a masters degree in ancient history or gender studies. I suspect a significant number of the not completed degrees and the awarded degrees were not worth the cost or effort of attaining them.

[Iron Munro]

You borrow it - you pay it off.

If you must got to school but can’t afford it, get a job and work your way through one you can afford.

If you do go in debt make sure it is to learn a useful, marketable skill.

[mamelukesabre]

Nobody gets out of paying student loans back...except the dead.

[Katya]

Not suprisingly, Colleges are spending big bucks to attract out of state students, because they bring in the cash. They are doing this by putting on concerts during orientation week featuring pop stars. It’s particularly hysterical how the administration at many of these schools feign shock at making the top ten party school list. You would think from some of the promotional videos it’s a four year summer camp with optional classes.

My youngest graduated in May, she had the choice to go to school for free in Germany or for free on scholarship here. She opted to stay in America for now... but all of her friends have had to take out some sort of student loan package, including non Stafford through private companies. Here’s to hoping they are getting degrees that will lead them to a specific profession.

If my kids hadn’t gotten merit scholarship awards, I would have had them go to community college for two years and then transfer to a state University. Most students could pay for that themselves with a side job and full time summer employment.