OT: Today is National Student Debt Day

If you are going into debt to pay for college make sure you pick the right major.  You aren't going to get a big time finance job with only a bachelors in psychology.

Engineering pays and not all "STEM" fields are the same, "TEM" degrees tend to pay more than "S" degrees.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economic-guide-to-picking-a-college-major/

I'm glad this is getting attention AND being discussed here, but what I don't understand about this being a "crisis" is this: with programs like PYE/IBR in place (not to mention PSLF), why exactly are recent graduates so strapped?  For a single person borrowing $100,000 and making around $60k their student loan payment would be $270/month (on PYE - which is what almost all new grads will be on) or $404/month (on IBR).  That's a far cry from what old-timers (i.e. people who graduated before 2008 and couldn't consolidate into IBR/PYE-eligible loans) would have paid on the same debt to income ($989/month).

I graduated in the spring of 07 with a degree in visual communication, focused on video and photography. Took a low paying full time job with the company where I completed my internship after a short but fruitless job search. Started repaying my loans six months later. Then the recession hit my employer hard (we were real-estate focused). Hours got cut; I had to put my payments on forbearance, which cost me $100 every 3 months. Once I exhausted my forbearance, I made payments by charging my living expenses on credit. My $35k in student loan debt quickly turned into $42k (9% interest on my cosigned loan). Got a second job as a line cook; the restaurant closed down a year later. Sold my soul to go work for a big bank in order to repay my debt. Six years later, I'm out of the big bank, but not using my degree at all, and have consolidated my non-government (Sallie Mae) loans with Citizens One for a (relatively) very low rate, with no cost up front. I will pay them off (god willing and the creek don't rise) just before my oldest daughter graduates high school.

My advice: don't go to college without considering the alternatives and the cost involved, consolidate your debt as soon as you are able, find a mentor to help navigate the job market, and finally, don't get hung up on working at a place where you can utilize your degree. It's overrated and in my case, could not afford me the opportunity to own a home and raise a family. Good luck, young folks. It's only going to get harder and more expensive out there....

I have $100k myself that I will toast to!

Here's the deal.  College tuition costs have increased by over 1,000 % in the last 40 years.  Simlarly to the principle that everyone should own a house regardless of whether they can afford it, US government policy has intervened in the market for education with loans, grants, etc. to say everyone should be able to afford college.  An institution is selling an education, and when the market's demand becomes inelastic the prices shoot up.  Either your customers are rich kids whose parents will pay any outrageous amount, or your customers are typical kids with easy access to borrow money and pay, regardless of tuition rate.

Colleges aren't incentivized to offer the best education for the most affordable rate, because the market is not free to demand it. 

How exactly are student loans an anchor? I gotta hear this.