STUDENT LOAN DEBT CRISIS

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data, about one out of five (19%) of the nation’s households owed student debt in 2010, more than double the share two decades earlier and a significant rise from the 15% that owed such debt in 2007. 

Although secondary degrees remain the primary medium through which millions of young people pursue socioeconomic advancement, in many ways, these benefits are fundamentally outweighed by the long-term consequences of the debt these degrees require. 

These Consequences manifest in some of the following ways: 

• The exacerbation of the American racial wealth gap. For example, Black college graduates owe $7,400 more on average than their White peers ($23,400 versus $16,000, including non-borrowers in the averages). But over the next few years, the Black-White debt gap more than triples to a whopping $25,000.

• The delay or outright foregoing of the traditional markers of adulthood, including marriage, having children and even buying first homes.