I have once again come to the conclusion, that debt is a most horrific thing. I imagine that when I have paid off all my school loans I will do cartwheels from the rooftops and maybe even fly. At this point, flying is not an option, and I wish to inflict great bodily harm on Miss Sallie Mae. I don't think she's alive anymore, but I'm certain that if she had known the sound of her name alone would conjure up the sensation of dry-heaving by college graduates everywhere, she may have thought twice about establishing "college loans" in their family name. Now, color me silly, but there are certain things about this country that simply baffle me. The average college student has taken out some sort of student loan at one point or another in their college career. Even the cost of in-state tuition is rising for public universities. I was reading the Princeton Review's annual college statistics and my former university ranked as the number one private university who has the most graduates with the most student loan debt. A whopping 40% of the graduating class snagged a degree along with some serious baggage. The other 60% was just plain rich, had some nice college money saved, or earned a great scholarship. I can safely say that knowing our tuition was a sickening $36,000 a year (not including housing, books and other fees).

A research called the "Higher Education Project" noted that 39% of students graduate with "unmanageable" levels of federal student loan debt. "Unmanageable" meaning their monthly income, along with other living expenses barely allow them to make their monthly payments. A student's monthly loan payment shouldn't exceed 8% of their monthly income. In addition to that, the percentage of students who borrow Federal Student Loans has risen upwards of 64% since the early nineties. Let's not also forget the barrage of Visa and Mastercard applications that come the way of the average high school senior, and the Chase Manhattan people who set up "information stands" on the University lawn during move-in day. My brother is 15 years old and he's already begun to get credit card solicitations in the mail. In fact, I'm pretty much certain that "The College Board", the company behind the SAT, sells their list of those who've recently taken the SAT to credit card companies among others.

A Tufts University Newspaper Notes:

U.S. secondary education tuition rose 32 percent between 1992 and 2002, according to nelliemae.com. In 2002, according to National Center for Education Statistics, the average undergraduate graduated $18,900 in debt, an increase of $7,500 in just five years. Thirty-nine percent of undergraduates receive some sort of federal financial aid. As college becomes more expensive, the student body is becoming more homogenous by category of class.

The average U.S. medical student has $104,000 in student loan debt, according to the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and first-year medical residents earn on average $33,387 a year. What's say we do the math folks? Granted, yes, doctors increasingly make more money once they complete their residency, but my gosh, $104,000 is a house in some parts of the country. Now in Seattle it might buy you something size of Saddam Hussein's hole in the ground. The fact that the average undergraduate has around $18,900 in debt (and that's a conservative figure if you ask me), is just mind-boggling. I'm not really one to be gung-ho on statistics, but I know this is a reality. My friends and I sit around all the time and commiserate around our student loans. We compare whose are greater, and laugh at the little guy with a mere $2500 borrowed. Then there's graduate school, and that's an entirely different motherload of slavery. My mom got her Ph.D back in '92 and she's just now emerging from the clouds of shackles.

I think something is wrong when we are launching young adults into their careers and the world toting a small mortgage behind them. What we have is a generation that's already in debt at the start of their adult life. And yet we wonder why so many Americans are caught up in consumerism and debt. Generational wealth is really a concept only the wealthy understand. I think we do young people a disservice by promoting a system whereby the average 22-year-old can incur more debt in four years than some people can in a lifetime. College tuition rates are steadily rising. Part of this is an attempt to bring college back to the place of being only for "the elite". It is also clear to most that a bachelor's degree these days doesn't mean much more than a high school diploma since they are so common. There is quick action being taken to change that by eliminating the opportunity for so many to go to college. Lastly, the economy is showing us now more than ever that higher education does not equal material success, no matter how many degrees one has. The number of non-college educated millionaires and business successes being pushed out in the last decade has proved to be a slap in the face to so many who have championed the "almighty degree".

I count myself in the midst of all this craziness. Myself being one who countered the culture, I realize that many people don't feel my sentiment. I think we need to stop with this college=success formula that's so deeply entrenched into the fabric of our culture. I can speak more specifically for the black culture, who has somehow managed to deify education to a place that makes me very uncomfortable. We truly have made that college=success equation our mantra and it is sometimes to our detriment. I'll post on that topic tomorrow perhaps. I am bothered by the number of young people and older adults I talk to who went to college because it was expected of them, never really had a vision for it, graduated with a degree in a subject they don't even like, or never use, and managed to incur some major debt in the process. I myself intend to be debt-free by the time I'm 24, but not without much hard work and determination. Last year, my eyes were opened to much of what I'd experienced in college when I read Martin Anderson's, Imposter's In the Temple: A Blueprint for Improving Higher Education. It's a dated, however very relevant piece of work where Anderson explores the "country-club" like nature of many universities, the liberal bias of most professors, and the tuition money that's being wasted on professors who barely teach at all. It's a good read for anyone who can withstand lack of eloquence for truth.