The lifetime education tax

To continue my New York Times link binge, I offer this article on student debt, "Placing the Blame as Students are Buried in Debt."

Debt, whether of the mortgage, credit card, or student loan variety, is a dicey issue to consider, if for no other reason that the fact that both parties had to agree to the loan. However, the rising costs of attending college are worth considering, as student loans are nearly impossible to get rid of, even in bankruptcy court, and for their effect on financial decisions later in life.

The subject of the article, Cortney Munna, is down nearly a hundred grand in student loans. That's a significant life setback, especially when it has no bearing on her future earning potential. I will admit, that when I read that her degree was "an interdisciplinary degree in religious and women's studies," my first thought was that was a pretty stupid choice, highly likely to consign her to a lifetime of low earnings. But reflecting further, the reality is that most jobs now require a college degree, but not one that is in any way relevant to the job at hand. It is simply a new benchmark for employment, used to weed people out. And if most office jobs require no special skills beyond what we could term "general competency" then why shouldn't a student study whatever he or she is interested in, given that the likelihood of actually needing degree-specific knowledge is low?

So I'm back to square one, and perhaps the central question: what should be done when the cost of a "good" degree far outstrips the earning potential of occupations that are accessible with that degree? This catch-22 is present in huge swaths of education: law, journalism, most liberal arts degrees, and is becoming true in medicine as well. I know at least one person who has chosen to study to be a Physicians' Assistant rather than a doctor because of the cost and time associated with medical school, relative to her expected salary. In short, there are relatively few degrees that don't have this problem, notably computer science, engineering, and finance. And I think we can all agree that American society needs as many more finance grads as we can find. . .

What's the solution? If nothing else, perhaps it's time to refine the definition of a good school, and determine exactly what a student is paying for when he or she matriculates. Is it later earning power, which is vague and really unenforceable? Is it "the experience" in which case state schools might start to look like a lot more fun? Or is it simply a body of knowledge that makes for a better person and citizen, with the added benefit of potentially higher earnings?

This paradox won't be solved while every white collar job requires at least a bachelors degree in something (even blue collar jobs often require extensive certification and training). And the spillover effect is already becoming evident - undergraduate degrees are on their way to becoming so devalued as to be meaningless, necessitating graduate study, and it's corresponding costs, for meaningful employment. I remember quite clearly an editorial cartoon in a local paper, a couple years ago. A recent college grad was moving home after commencement, carrying a huge laundry bag on his shoulders labeled "debt." His parents told him, disapprovingly, "When we were your age, we started out with nothing," to which he replied "I'd have loved to start out with nothing." Unfortunately, that scenario continues to be all too true.