I write this post understanding that some will make fun of my “back when we were kids” mentality. So be it!
The Wall Street Journal has an article examining how student loan money is spent.
The government lets students use a portion of federal loans for living expenses on the grounds that it allows students to devote more time to studying and improves their chances of graduating. Even when schools suspect students are over-borrowing, they are restricted by federal law and Education Department policy from denying funds.
The article is particularly critical of loans to students in online programs and schools that allow loans when students are taking no credits.
As a college faculty member, the thing about the student loan situation I resent is the assumption so many make that it is the tuition costs that are responsible for high debt loads carried by graduates. Ask young working professionals who place their young children in child care and I would bet they are paying far more for their children to be cared for than they paid for college tuition. It is all a matter of perspective.
It is true that I did not have a car for the first several years when I was in college, etc.
