The Current State Of College Education And College Loan Debt Markets And Their Implications For Future Generations
Open Access
Author:
Kimel, Evan Seth
Area of Honors:
Finance
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Jingzhi Huang, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Brian Spangler Davis, Honors Advisor
Keywords:
college loans debt bubble income default mortgage
Abstract:
When most individuals think of a “college education,” they do not associate it with the phrase “necessary evil.” However, due to rapidly developing trends, this may very well become the case. The price to attend college has increased at an exponential rate, and higher education as a whole has become big business. An artificial demand for college graduates has ensured that it is nearly impossible to land a decent job without a degree; because of this, young adults are taking on massive amounts of debt in order to attend college. More alarming than this crippling debt is that many of those same young adults find themselves jobless post-grad, sitting upon a mountain of debt with nothing to show but a piece of paper that we have decided to be a necessity. Should these trends continue, in the very near future, perhaps even within five to ten years, the way young adults live will change drastically. In this paper, I have attempted to connect the great many puzzle pieces that is the college education paradox.