It has been said that: "History Does Not Repeat Itself, But It Rhymes," which is certainly apt when it comes to the absolutely insane student debt crisis which has reached unprecedented scales in America. According to consumerfinance.gov, "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimates that outstanding debt is approaching $1.2 trillion as of May 2013." While there are all sorts of debt that is created in America, there is something especially insidious about student debt to which the first thing is that a significant portion of that debt is guaranteed by the federal government, which means ultimately it is the tax payers of this nation that have to make good on these bad debts; along too there is the fact that the debt is being issued to people that for the most part, have limited assets at the present time, to which for most of these student debtors, signifies in principle that they are "underwater" as soon as they take out the debt with typically only a hope that one day they will have the reasonable means to pay back the loan.
As bad as that is, it gets even worse, when you consider the fact that a significant percentage of students that take out college loans, never graduate or get a degree from their college of choice. This often means, that the hopes of a nice salary that they once envisioned will never come to fruition, yet they still have the responsibility to pay back a loan but often with limited means to do so. Further adding fuel to the fire, is the fact that many students taking out the loans are both young and often quite inexperienced in regards to financial matters, and in particular, in regards to making good, sound and conservative decisions when it comes to money. To far too many students, the ability to seemingly get loans for nothing, gives them a perverse incentive to try to "max" out their student loans per school semester so that instead of simply concentrating on getting just what they need to handle their tuition, books, and reasonable living expenses; student loans are often looked upon as a cow to be milked so as to receive as much as they possibly can so that thereby they can live large and enjoy the good life. Yet, at the end of the day, all that extra money that has been borrowed, must not only be paid back, it must be paid back with interest, and not doing so will lead to credit scores being decimated and possible future garnishments.
The fact of the matter is that when you lure students in with a dream that by going to college, that they can live the good life, without the necessary attendant responsibility and dedication, you have done a massive disservice to them as a whole. To make matters worse, standing behind the institutions that willy-nilly loan out money to students is the federal and/or state governments, to which if they were not guaranteeing these loans, than the loans themselves to students would be far more stringent, far more limited, and far better monitored.
You could argue that the student debt fiasco is an example of good intentions, gone horribly awry, or you could probably better argue, that the greed of these campuses for new blood and new money to feed their faculty, fill the institution, and swell up the money coffers is the real driving force, behind this misguided policy. Huffingtonpost.com tells us that: "about 11.5% of student loan balances are 90+ days delinquent or in default and that figure is often reported low because it does not include student loans in deferment or forbearance." The foregoing is merely a prelude to the crisis to come, to which many students caught in a cycle of debt, and not just limited to student loans, will become effectively, wards of the State, forever