So when I’m not looking at fashion or music related crap on the internet (and out in the world)…I brush up on my current events. Especially if it pertains to my living conditions in the years to come.
I came across an interesting article about the debt for college grads this year (2011). Although the article basically goes on to say that going to college and collecting the student loan debt is ultimately worth it, it does still suck a big one. . .
I have a bunch of thoughts and opinions about debt, college, graduating, and jobs…but I’ll save that for a later post.
By: Mark Whitehouse
$22,900: Average student debt of newly minted college graduates
The Class of 2011 will graduate this spring from America’s colleges and universities with a dubious distinction: the most indebted ever.
Even as the average U.S. household pares down its debts, the new degree-holders who represent the country’s best hope for future prosperity are headed in the opposite direction. With tuition rising at an annual rate of about 5% and cash-strapped parents less able to help, the mean student-debt burden at graduation will reach nearly $18,000 this year, estimates Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of student-aid websites Fastweb.com and FinAid.org. Together with loans parents take on to finance their children’s college educations — loans that the students often pay themselves – the estimate comes to about $22,900. That’s 8% more than last year and, in inflation-adjusted terms, 47% more than a decade ago.
In the long run, the investment is probably worth it. Education is a much better reason to borrow money than buying cars or McMansions, and it endows people with economic advantages that the recession and slow recovery have only accentuated. As of 2009, the annual pre-tax income of households headed by people with at least a college degree exceeded that of less-educated households by 101%, up from 91% in 2006. As of April, the unemployment rate among college graduates stood at 4.5%, compared to 9.7% for those with only a high-school diploma and 14.6% for those who never finished high school.
iRok Fashion 
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