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More than half of older millennial's with student debt say their loans weren’t worth it

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More than half of older millennial's with student debt say their loans weren’t worth it

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Abigail Johnson Hess
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/08/older-millennials-with-student-debt-say-their-loans-werent-worth-it.html
Inform/Persuade

Many young adults who attend college said that the situation they were put in from that debt effected their lives in many negative ways.

And while college degree holders are generally better off — enjoying improved job security, longer life expectancies, higher earnings and greater financial stability — more than half (52%) of older millennials with student debt say their loans weren’t worth it.

It explains how many older millennials who were still paying off their student debt agreed that those loans weren't worth the money.

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As millennials begin to turn 40 in 2021, CNBC Make It has launched Middle-Aged Millennials, a series exploring how the oldest members of this generation have grown into adulthood amid the backdrop of the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, student loans, stagnant wages and rising costs of living.

Older millennials entered adulthood around the time of the 2008 financial crisis, which was followed by higher education funding cuts, rising college costs and slow wage growth. The result: Millennials became the student debt generation.

Even as the oldest millennials turn 40 this year and approach middle age, student debt continues to follow them.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. adults ages 33 to 40, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of CNBC Make It, respondents took out an average $21,880 in student loans for their education. Just 32% of those who took out loans have entirely paid them off, meaning the majority (68%) of older millennials are still paying down their student debt a decade or so later.

And while college degree holders are generally better off — enjoying improved job security, longer life expectancies, higher earnings and greater financial stability — more than half (52%) of older millennials with student debt say their loans weren't worth it.

"A constant uphill battle" and little choice

Erin Becker, 36, owes over $40,000 in federal and private student loans. Paying them off has been "a constant uphill battle," she says. "There is no comfort or security, just an ever-present unease about the future."

Becker was the first in her family to attend a four-year college when she enrolled at SUNY Potsdam in 2003 to study music education. Her parents took out student loans on her behalf.

"SUNY Potsdam wasn't a good fit for me. It was very isolating, and I didn't have a lot of friends in the music college itself. So I ended up getting pretty depressed and decided to move back home," she says. "I don't think I was mature enough to go to college right away. If I were to talk to my 17-year-old self, I would maybe say, 'Take some time to make sure that this is really what you want.'"

"When I was in high school, debt was never discussed," says Becker. "It was just like you go to college, that's what you did."

After working several odd jobs, Becker decided to get a two-year veterinary technician degree from Medaille College, a private college in Buffalo, New York, but this time she was responsible for covering the costs. She took out two private loans: one worth $8,835 and one worth $13,600. She graduated in 2010, owing over $20,000 in student debt and making just $12 an hour working at a veterinary practice.

"I was always paying the minimum amount due on my loans," she remembers.

Unable to make progress paying down her principal, she decided to finish her bachelor's degree (this time studying psychology) at the University of Buffalo and graduated in 2017. She took out an additional $32,000 in federal student loans to complete her degree.

"I had just over $54,000" in debt, she recalls. "In the time that I've paid it off, I've paid it down to maybe $49,000."

In October, Becker gave birth to her first child and now works part-time as an entry-level client services representative at a veterinary practice earning $15 per hour.

"It's frustrating and it's embarrassing, frankly. I feel like I'm smarter and better than where I am right now," she says. Her husband makes roughly $80,000 per year as a mechanical engineer.

"And I struggle with identifying myself outside of my profession," says Becker. "I want to do good. I want to make a positive difference, in the world, in my community, and I don't think I'm doing that right now."

But what frustrates Becker most is that she feels going to college and taking on debt was never a real choice in the first place.

"Was college worth it? The answer is yes," she says. "It's certainly more beneficial to have a degree than not to have a degree. You kind of have to go to college. A college professor once said that the four-year bachelor's degree is the equivalent of a high school degree now.

"In our parents' generation, there were entry-level jobs where you could have a comfortable life with a single income — that doesn't exist any more."

Paying down $200,000: "It was all-consuming"

Jeffrey Street, 33, graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2009 and still remembers how hard it was to find a job. "The job market was so bad," he says. "I was working for the City of Knoxville Parks and Recreation department in undergrad, and my job prospect for after graduation was to keep working for the Department of Parks and Recreation. I knew I wanted to do something different."

Street chose to attend law school at the University of Idaho, where he met his future wife, Shannon. When they graduated in 2012, the pair owed nearly $200,000 in student debt.

Shannon owed $17,125 from her undergraduate degree and $87,058 from her law degree. Street had no loans from his bachelor's but owed over $92,000 from law school.

"I remember thinking to myself that if I was very proactive in paying it off when I got out of law school, then maybe the debt wouldn't be so bad," he says. "But the average interest rate on our loans was about 6.5%. It was about $1,000 of interest per month."

Even after the couple passed the Bar Exam in 2013, they still struggled to find work. "I was literally putting in job applications to any job that I could get," he says.

Street eventually took a job stocking shelves at Target from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. so he could network and apply for legal jobs during the day. He says he would keep his suit in his car and change into it in a 7-Eleven bathroom before interviews. Shannon took a job in the framing department of a local Michael's.

Eventually, Street landed his first legal job in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he earned $36,000. The couple later moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area for better jobs and slowly began making progress on their loans.

"Everything we thought about was student loans. It was all-consuming," he says. "We poured every extra dollar into our student loans. We did not vacation. We did not buy a new TV. (In fact we still have our TV from law school). We took secondhand furniture and clothes when offered. We just saved and saved."

Street says he and his wife put off having children for six years and did not attend friends' weddings because of their student loans.

Today, Street has $27,630 left in student debt and his wife owes $6,820. They now live in  Boise, Idaho, have two young children and feel repayment is finally in sight. Street has even begun putting away money in a 529 fund so his kids "do not have to deal with the same burden."

And while Street says earning his law degree was necessary for him to become an attorney and is proud to have made such progress on his debt, both he and Becker say they support some kind of student debt relief — and addressing the cycle of student debt — for future generations.

"You can't accuse me of wanting someone else to take accountability for my student loans. I've paid my debts and I'm going to finish," he says. "But I went through it, and I can tell you the student debt process was not worth it.

"I wouldn't wish the student debt experience on anyone."

CNBC Make It will be publishing more stories in the Middle-Aged Millennials series around student loans, employment, wealth, diversity and health. If you're an older millennial (ages 33 to 40), share your story with us for a chance to be featured in a future installment.

Don't miss:

What's still up for debate when it comes to student debt forgiveness

The U.S. already has student debt forgiveness—but barely anyone gets it

College graduates live longer than those without a college degree—and the gap is growing

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More than half of older millennials with student debt say their loans weren’t worth it

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Even as the oldest millennials turn 40 this year and approach middle age, student debt continues to follow them.

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Melanie Hanson
https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics
Inform

Statistics on college debt. Student debt is the second highest consumer debt category
"Student loan debt is now the second-highest consumer debt category. Nationwide, 43% of college attendees report they incurred some type of educational debt. Among today’s college students, 65% graduate with student debt."
It gives the reader hard statistical facts on how many students graduate with debt.

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Student Loan Debt Statistics [2024]: Average + Total Debt

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Find student loan debt statistics, including the national debt balance, average individual balance, and annual growth rates.

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The Far-Reaching Impact of the Student Debt Crisis

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The Far-Reaching Impact of the Student Debt Crisis

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Scholarship America
https://scholarshipamerica.org/blog/the-far-reaching-impact-of-the-student-debt-crisis/
Persuade/Inform

There are many ways that we can fix this problem. Like awarding more scholarships, fund grants, and other forms of aid that don't require payment.
"Universities are recognizing the importance of awarding scholarships without reducing a student’s financial aid package. Take a look at this resource showing some of the colleges and universities that have agreed to help students maximize their scholarship dollars."
It gives the reader ideas on how to fix this problem.

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By Scholarship America
Updated September 2022
1.7 trillion dollars. That's a massive number. To put this figure into perspective, it's larger than the gross domestic product of all but 11 countries. No company in the Fortune 500 produces even 1/3 that much in annual revenue. It's enough to buy the Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys and Real Madrid - 90 times over.

And it's how much America's college graduates owed on their student loans at the beginning of 2022.

To s ay that student loan debt is a crisis is an understatement. According to the most recent figures, more than half of college graduates leave school with loan debt. As of 2005, their average debt level was around $17,000. But, less than two decades later, that figure had climbed near $30,000, directly impacting 48 million student borrowers and creating a trillion-dollar problem that affects just about everyone in the nation-even after the Biden administration's announcement of targeted student loan forgiveness.

The impact of that plan, which forgives $10,000 in debt for those earning less than $125,000/year, and $20,000 for those who were eligible for Pell Grants, is still being calculated. But even if the highest estimates are correct and the plan forgives around $300 billion, Americans are still on the hook for $1.4 trillion in debt.

And counting.

Student Debt Hits Middle Class Students Hard

Overall, we know that students from low-income backgrounds still face the greatest struggle when it comes to earning college degrees. Unstable home lives, lower-quality high schools and other frequent corollaries of low-income neighborhoods present plenty of obstacles even before loan debt becomes an issue.

For students from middle-class backgrounds, the road to a degree seems easier. Their families often have money saved; their schools and support systems tend to prepare them well for the next step. Nevertheless, finances are still a roadblock, and middle-class students actually shoulder more student loan debt than anyone after graduating. According to Dartmouth sociology professor Jason Houle's study,
"'Children from middle-income families make too much money to qualify for student aid packages, but they do not have the financial means to cover the costs of college' ... The study found that students from families earning between $40,000 to $59,000 per year racked up 60 percent more debt than lower-income students and 280 percent more than their peers whose families earned between $100,000 and $149,000 per year. A similar trend held for more affluent middle-income families earning up to $99,000 annually."
Loan Debt Is an Economic Drag

When graduates who are looking for their first post-college job are already $30,000 in debt, the negative effect on the economy is considerable.

Despite their qualifications, grads often have to settle for lower-paying, lower-skill jobs just so they can start paying their loan bills right away. As a result, graduates in debt often miss out on the benefits that come with a degree. According to a CNBC report, "85 percent of student loan borrowers say difficulty in saving has delayed their ability to buy a house," and other research indicates that "Those with student loan debt also are less likely to have taken out car loans. They have worse credit scores. They appear to be more likely to be living with their parents."

Defaults and delinquencies are also more common with student loan debt than just about any other kind. While credit card default rates have dropped under 10 percent thanks to stricter borrowing guidelines, the rate of student loans in "serious delinquency" has gone up to 11.5 percent. What's worse, according to Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is that many of these borrowers aren't even graduating. "This [statistic] suggests that borrowers who default are overwhelmingly noncompleters ... These borrowers take on some debt but do not benefit from the wage increase associated with a degree."

Last but not least, the prospect of such overwhelming debt is making an increasing number of students, especially low-income students, think twice about attending college at all - a decision that will compound the already-impending shortage of educated employees facing the U.S. workforce.

What Can We Do?

Between the pandemic-related payment freeze and the targeted forgiveness of debt, it's clear that both the public and private sectors recognize the scope of the student loan debt crisis. A wide variety of policy solutions are in progress, including changes to the Income-Driven Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness plans that should reduce both monthly payments and repayment commitments.

On the state level, five states have now passed legislation eliminating the practice of scholarship displacement, making it illegal to reduce students' financial aid packages when they earn outside scholarships, and ensuring that their public colleges and universities help students maximize their scholarship dollars.

More broadly, federal law over the past decade has required colleges to provide increasingly deeper and more transparent information about the cost of attendance, the likelihood of loan debt and the career prospects of graduates-an important step in helping students make informed decisions about their college investment.

Even with loan forgiveness, students are still facing a gap: 73% of students pursuing bachelor's degrees have an average "unmet need" of more than $9,000. As we continue to address the student loan debt crisis and its impacts, it's more crucial than ever to ensure that families are aware of all of their funding options.

It's also vitally important to fund grants, scholarships and other forms of aid that don't require repayment. Scholarships and grants paid for more than 25% of the average college student's tuition bill in 2021 -and the more we can all add our support through scholarships and grants, the fewer students will add to the rising debt crisis statistics.

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The Far-Reaching Impact of the Student Debt Crisis - Scholarship America

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By Scholarship America Updated September 2022 1.7 trillion dollars. That's a massive number. To put this figure into perspective, it's larger than the gross domestic product of all but 11 countries. No company in the Fortune 500 produces even 1/3 that much in annual revenue.

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Do You Regret Your Student Loans? 7 Borrowers Weigh In

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Do You Regret Your Student Loans? 7 Borrowers Weigh In

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Rebecca Safier
https://studentloanhero.com/featured/regret-student-loans-borrowers/
To tell a story, to inform

The article explains the regret students felt from their debt and what they would've done differently. Many students believed the college ranking system didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

“I think that high school graduates tend to overestimate how much college ‘rankings’ matter,” said Cook. “In the real world, most of the time, they don’t. That’s the trap I fell into.”

“Having a degree, in my opinion, doesn’t automatically give you a job,” said Diaz. “I think it’s about personality, dedication and how much you are willing to work.”

It tells a story of someone else's life and how they regret these debts.

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Do You Regret Your Student Loans? 7 Borrowers Weigh In

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We spoke with seven student loan borrowers about their college debt regrets and what (if anything) they would have done differently.

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What Would It Take to Solve the Student Debt Crisis?

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What Would It Take to Solve the Student Debt Crisis?

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Anna Helhoski

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/what-would-it-take-to-solve-the-student-debt-crisis
Persuade/Inform

The article talks about many ways to fix college debt and the financial trouble it can cause. Ways like expanding Pell grants and lowering cost of tuition.
Many borrowers Mayotte hears from say their biggest gripe is growing interest.

“They say, ‘I feel like I should pay (my loans) back, but I don’t feel like I’m on a level playing field because of the interest,’” Mayotte says.

“I don’t think it’s a terrible idea, but I don’t think it’s a game changer,” Akers says, adding she thinks expanding existing Pell Grant programs could have a stronger effect on affordability.

Talks about ways to fix college debt

The is someones experience on college loans and how they feel it is on her disadvantage to play their loans back.

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That debt has been fueled by decades of wages not keeping up with the rising cost of college. And unless wages increase and college costs decrease, students will still need to take on debt to complete degrees, and they'll face greater difficulty repaying loans.

"There are no $1.7 trillion silver bullets," says Seth Frotman, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

So what could work? It'll take more than a headline-grabbing wipeout of student debt.

Frotman says, in addition to canceling debt, he would prioritize efforts to make college more affordable and to reform the borrowing and repayment systems. Michele Streeter, senior policy analyst at The Institute for College Access and Success, says student loans remain an important college access tool for students, but forgiveness and repayment programs should be easier to access and automated whenever possible.

As a new crop of students gets ready to borrow for college and multiple generations of borrowers grapple with debt, experts weigh in on possible solutions.

Forgive student loan debt

Broad forgiveness - around $10,000, for example - could help the most vulnerable borrowers: those who never graduated and lack the bigger paychecks that typically come with a degree to pay off the debt they acquired along the way.

Experts diverge on whether there should be broad forgiveness. But if it does happen, they agree future debt accumulation must be addressed.

"Until somebody can come up with a proposal for what happens on day two and everyone starts borrowing again, that will be one major hurdle to any level of forgiveness," says Carlo Salerno, vice president for research at CampusLogic, a developer of college financial aid management tools.

Streamline existing forgiveness programs

There's too much red tape inherent to existing forgiveness programs, experts say. Salerno calls it a "bureaucracy and paperwork crisis."

Democrats in Congress have suggested making all federal student loans and repayment plans eligible for PSLF, waiving restrictions for forgiveness and automatically qualifying borrowers.

Cut or lower interest rates

Making zero interest permanent or lowering interest on existing debt could help borrowers pay off their debt without growing the principal, says Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors.

Many borrowers Mayotte hears from say their biggest gripe is growing interest.

"They say, 'I feel like I should pay (my loans) back, but I don't feel like I'm on a level playing field because of the interest,'" Mayotte says.

Condense income-driven repayment

Income-driven repayment plans, federal options that set student loan payments at a portion of a borrower's income, are a strong safety net. But experts say the four income-driven options - in addition to the three other federal repayment plans - should be streamlined into one new program. Some suggest automating enrollment.

"There's no rhyme or reason for the variety of programs that exist in this space other than they were developed over time," says Beth Akers, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative public policy think tank, where she focuses on the economics of higher education. "We need to simplify the safety net for students and make it so simple that they can understand it exists and what benefits it can provide for them."

Wesley Whistle, senior advisor for policy and strategy at New America, a left-of-center public policy think tank, says automatic enrollment into an IDR plan could benefit delinquent or defaulted borrowers, but is concerned about auto-enrolling students right out of college and its effect on their ability to repay the principal. For many, payments may not even cover interest.

"Even working full time at a minimum wage job, you're not making enough to knock into your principal," says Whistle, who specializes in higher education policy. That could leave borrowers still paying student loans 20-25 years into the future.

Make college tuition-free

However, experts agree tuition-free programs will still require borrowers to take on debt to cover living expenses - on or off campus.

"I don't think it's a terrible idea, but I don't think it's a game changer," Akers says, adding she thinks expanding existing Pell Grant programs could have a stronger effect on affordability.

Pell Grants originally covered around 80% of college costs, but today they cover less than 28%, according to The Institute for College Access and Success.

Lawmakers and experts say Pell Grants, targeted to low-income students, should be doubled from their current maximum of $6,495 to better meet the cost of college for students with financial need.

"The program is super well-targeted," says Streeter of TICAS. "Even if you were to double the maximum grant, that targeting is still in place, and I think that's why it is so popular and has a lot of bipartisan support."

Advocates also argue eligibility should extend up the income ladder to include students in middle-income brackets who still need financial aid.

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.

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What Would It Take to Solve the Student Debt Crisis? - NerdWallet

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That debt has been fueled by decades of wages not keeping up with the rising cost of college. And unless wages increase and college costs decrease, students will still need to take on debt to complete degrees, and they'll face greater difficulty repaying loans.

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Counter-Claim Why Don’t Colleges Lower Their Prices?

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Counter-Claim Why Don’t Colleges Lower Their Prices?

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College Factual
https://www.collegefactual.com/parents/paying-for-college/roi/why-do-colleges-charge-so-much/
Inform

College isn't able to lower prices because it would loss revenue resulting in a loss in quality. Colleges are able to charge so much because people still pay for it no matter the price.

“There’s certainly evidence that people don’t know how to measure the quality of a college education … They think that if it’s expensive it must be better. I don’t think colleges want to have high prices, but I do think they see strategic reasons why it may be in their interest to have high prices.”

It shows the opinion of someones stance on the topic. Helps the reader understand.

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Why do colleges charge so much money?

The simple answer to that question is because they can. Here are three reasons they don't lower their prices, and how you can begin to change the higher education industry.

1. Lower Cost = Lower Quality

Or at least, that's the way that most Americans perceive higher education.

The most prestigious schools in the country charge a price tag to match. All the schools in the upper echelon are priced accordingly, and schools who are trying to build their image often increase their prices to match top ivy-league schools. The quality of the school is perceived to be great because the price is so high.

Sandy Baum of the Urban Institute says.

"There's certainly evidence that people don't know how to measure the quality of a college education ... They think that if it's expensive it must be better. I don't think colleges want to have high prices, but I do think they see strategic reasons why it may be in their interest to have high prices."

2. Supply & Demand.

One basic reason colleges can get away with charging such high prices is that people are still willing to pay them.

Over 21 million students are enrolled in different types of colleges across the country, and many universities turn away more students then they accept. As long as people are willing to pay the high prices of college, they will continue to charge high prices.

Recently some colleges have seen steep drops in enrollment and as a response drastically lowered tuition. For most of these schools, the tactic worked and enrollment has increased. Some colleges have also taken other cost-cutting measures, such as eliminating low-interest departments.

3. Government Loans & Grants Incentivize High Prices

Grants and low-interest loans are supposed to make college more affordable, right?

Well, think again. Colleges know that the majority of students will have an easy way to come up with money (even if it's money they have to pay back). Thus they can easily raise prices knowing students will just apply for more loans to pay for them. Without the easy access to college loans, students would be forced to choose lower-priced alternatives or simply demand lower prices, and colleges would have to follow suit.

The theory that more federal aid drives up college tuition prices is known as the Bennett Hypothesis. In an interview with the NY Times, Bennett says...

If the federal government gives money, tuition goes up. If the federal government doesn't give money, it goes up. Now, I think the availability of federal funding drives it up more quickly and more surely. Federal student aid makes it easier for colleges to do what they're going to do anyway, which is raise tuition. There's more money available.

Federal loans were meant to help poor students achieve an education that would lift them out of poverty. Too often today they serve as a way to hold college graduates back from economic milestones such as getting married, starting a family or buying a house. Sometimes the fear of debt can keep students out of college altogether. One study found that debt above a certain level was associated with higher dropout rates ($12,711 for men and $14,682 for women).

What Do We Do?

Bennett suggests that there is still a place for the government to offer aid in the form of grants for very low-income students, and that school eligibility for student aid should be linked to default rates and tuition increases. Surely making colleges more invested in the success of their students is one place to start increasing the value of college.

Aside from public policy, there is a more immediate way you can change the higher education industry, and that is simply by voting with your dollars. If more and more families put their dollars behind universities that are making an effort to reduce costs while at the same time increase educational quality, more colleges will change their ways.

Whether college pays off for your child depends on many factors, including how affordable the school is, what major they choose, if they are able to graduate on time (or at all) and more.

Unsurprisingly, not all colleges are equal when it comes to ROI. Perhaps more surprisingly, some schools actually have a negative ROI after taking into account the costs of attending.

The real test is whether the higher wages are enough to offset the investment in time and money associated with college. By that standard, college education does not look nearly as good. In fact, the financial return from attending many colleges actually appears to be negative. (Cappelli, Will College Pay Off? A Guide to the Most Important Financial Decision You'll Ever Make)

How Do You Ensure a Good Return on your Education Investment?

Every financial decision has some element of risk involved, but there are some things students and their parents should be aware of before choosing a college.

1. Beware of Excessive Debt

Using loans to pay for college is very risky because there is no guarantee of a high-paying job for students to immediately begin paying them off. Once the interest begins building on loans, it creates a snowball effect that is difficult for many new graduates to keep on top of.

Many people rely on loans, and they aren't necessarily bad, but they can be very quickly overdone. The best advice for students is to steer clear of programs or degrees that would require them to take out private loans which typically have higher interest rates.

2. Graduate On Time

The majority of students take more than four years to graduate if they graduate at all.

Choosing a school where a large number of students graduate "on time" is one of the first things you should be looking for. This also means a seemingly well-priced school isn't really so well-priced at all when you see that only 17% of students graduate in four years.

3. Choose the Right Major

Many students and their parents try to analyze the job market or take average salaries into account when determining what to choose as a college major. It is wise to consider all the data you have, but it's difficult to predict future job markets.

So what is the right major to choose? Think about the long term, and opt for a degree that will teach you transferable skills and stress critical thinking. If you think you might transfer majors, make sure there are plenty you are interested in to choose from.

College Factual has a free tool that will help you choose a major based on your natural strengths and interests. This means a degree that will capitalize on your strengths giving you skills to aid you in lots of career paths. Find your major now.

Is the Current State of Higher Education Sustainable?

Parents and students should arm themselves with information in order to make the best choice possible, but we all should be concerned about the current state of our economy that makes a college degree so necessary, but also prices it out of the reach of the average American.

Just because there are high returns on a college degree today, does not mean there will be tomorrow. And it is foolish to think every student has to get a four-year degree in order to be successful.

College Factual envisions a future where data on higher education outcomes is transparent and easy to obtain, and where every student is able to go to their best-fit college without boat-loads of debt. Will you join us?

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Why Does College Cost So Much & What Can we Do About it?

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Why do colleges charge so much money? The simple answer to that question is because they can. Here are three reasons they don't lower their prices, and how you can begin to change the higher education industry. Or at least, that's the way that most Americans perceive higher education.