Student loan debt may be next financial crisis
Saturday, April 7, 2012
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Connie Swain, who is still paying back her student loans, reads to her godson, Joseph Parker, 5, at her rented S.F. home.
View Larger ImagesIn her 20s, Connie Swain shelled out a lot of money to a private vocational school to learn computer skills, relying on student loans for tuition and expenses.
"I was young and didn't really have a sense of how to do things," said Swain, now 44. "I should have gone to community college. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into at the time."
The debt she accumulated - she owes about $13,000, down from $23,000 - has followed her for two decades.
She's among legions of Americans who took on student debt in pursuit of a better future - only to find out that that debt itself cast a shadow over that future.
"It has made things really difficult," said Swain, a case
"I was young and didn't really have a sense of how to do things," said Swain, now 44. "I should have gone to community college. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into at the time."
The debt she accumulated - she owes about $13,000, down from $23,000 - has followed her for two decades.
She's among legions of Americans who took on student debt in pursuit of a better future - only to find out that that debt itself cast a shadow over that future.
"It has made things really difficult," said Swain, a case
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