Brace Yourself: Our Latest Look at Student Debt

June 13, 2016

by Jill Mislinski

College Tuition and Fees constitute one of the biggest threats to our economic outlook. Here is a chart of data from the relevant Consumer Price Index sub-component reaching back to 1978, the earliest year Uncle Sam provides a breakout for College Tuition and Fees. As an interesting sidebar, we've thrown in the increase in the cost of purchasing a new car as well as the more substantial increase for the broader category of medical care, both of which pale in comparison.

During the decade of the 1990's, when real out-of-pocket funding declined 25%, tuition and fees rose 92%, which sounds substantial ... until you compare it to the 1272% across the complete data series. For early boomers (a decade before the time frame in the chart above) paying for college was sort of like buying a car. But in recent decades, it has become more like buying a house, for which the strategy of a minimum down payment is commonplace for first-time buyers.

DYI Comments:  Student loans the third party payer who's goal in life is to continue to shovel more and more money to cover the ever increasing cost of schooling never understanding that the lenders are responsible for pushing the costs ever higher.  The money from day one went to tuition, fees, plus the extras in the form of wages, college/university infrastructure[building projects] all to allure more students.  The process today is to churn as many students through the university system whether they graduate or not to capture their loans.

To stop dead in its tracks the hyperinflation for schooling do away with student loans.  This would have the immediate effect to reduce the costs of schooling.  College/universities will not be able to charge more than their customers can afford for if they do their campuses will have very few students along with massive layoffs.  They will scream bloody murder [they lost their subsidy] that the educational world will come to an end[no it won't] costs once again will drift back as stated in the article: "for early boomers (a decade before the time frame in the chart above) paying for college was sort of like buying a car."

A student would once again work a part time job, a little help from mom and dad, and graduate debt free.  Instead we are creating a nation of debt slaves!

DYI