The price of college education goes up every year. And as more and more students are jumping right from high school into college, because that is what everyone tells them is the right thing to do, their college education costs just get added into the debt that the rest of us still owe, making the sum astronomical. The fact is that people say that you have to go to college, but everyone who has entered college in the 2000s and beyond will be saddled with a debt that goes far beyond the price of the cost of a college education.
With ridiculous interest rates, low paying jobs not in their field of study, and the costs for everything else climbing every year, the price of college education just does not seem worth it anymore. But have you looked at numbers lately? Do you know why things are the way they are? It certainly will not make you feel any better about it, but at least you will know the finer details.
The average cost per year of a four year college tuition is about $21,479. Nearly double that for most private schools. That roughly breaks down to $1,168 for books, $3,937 for food, $4,185 for housing, and then $12,189 for actual tuition.
The total student loan debt floating out there in the ether right now, causing grief and ulcers, is at $956 billion. All accruing interest and waiting to be paid back. Since 2007, the year I graduated college, student loan debt has grown 56%.
Of all of the households headed by someone under the age of 35, 40% of them have a student debt that they are paying off. That does not take into account all of the people who are saddled with so much debt that they cannot even think to start a household yet.
Now someone has honestly told you how it is. I wish that there had been someone for me and my generation to lay it out like this, but it is just now coming into light as a serious epidemic. If you still want to go to college, by all means. I cannot stress enough how important an education is, but know what financial situation you will be entering if you do go to college.
