Are Complaints About Student Loan Debt Overhyped?
With total student loan debt approaching $1 trillion and two-thirds of 2010 graduates owing back loans that average $25,250—a 5 percent increase since 2009—plenty of people are condemning the amount of money students must borrow to earn college degrees. But one education expert is bucking that trend, saying that the furor over loans has been blown way out of proportion.
In a recent story in The New York Times, Judith Scott-Clayton, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, says the media has sensationalized the student debt conversation by spotlighting extreme examples of college graduates with $100,000 or more in loans. She cites data from a 2009 U.S. Department of Education survey that indicates "only one-10th of 1 percent of college entrants, and only three-10ths of 1 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients, accumulate more than $100,000 in undergraduate student debt." More than 50