College Tuition and the Growing Student Debt Pandemic

Today's student riots in the UK brings light to one of the most abusive and contemptuous  parody's in America today.  50,000 students protested outside of the Conservative Party HQ's today in Central London against proposed increases in tuition fees and a cut in university funding in England.  This rise in tuition would add about $10,000 in costs per semester to students who are paying only $5,000 now.  I couldn't imagine what these same students would do if they were in America and had to deal with our tuition inflation.

Over the past two decades college tuition in America has doubled the inflation rate every year and there seems to be no end in sight.  Universities try to hide the costs in "student fees" and name many reasons for the tuition spikes, but reasons don't relieve thinning wallets around the country.  It's a shame that in today's world, when a bachelor's degree is yesterday's high school degree, the education system seems to be fiscally punishing those who strive to learn.  These tuition increases are forcing more people than ever to take on student debt, and this student debt is beginning to cripple the ambitions of many recent graduates all over America.  

Student loan debt just passed credit card debt in America and has quickly become the next great economic bubble for our generation and beyond.  The current tab is currently at $830 billion and will only keep growing exponentially.  The catch about student debt though is it can't be erased by bankruptcy like credit debt; if you can't repay your student loans you will default with the federal government and you don't want that.  If that happens the government will hound you until the day you die for that unpaid money.  The worrisome part about this whole debacle is that with the current economy, job market and prospects of higher interest rates, default is going to become an all too real issue for many graduates in the years to come.  Imagine the compounding interest on a $50,000 balance if the LIBOR goes up to 10% or more over the next decade to counter inflation.  Not pretty.