Risky Business: Why Student Loans Are The Worst Way To Fund College

By Josh Freedman. As the number of students attending colleges and universities has steadily increased and the cost for most students has climbed even faster, student debt figures (both total and per person) have continued to get bigger. Arguments about the likelihood of a “higher education bubble” abound. Struggles with loan payments are so commonplace that hipsters in Brooklyn were struggling with loan payments way before you. The student debt issue can be overstated, and often is. Yet the concern stems from the right place: the way we currently fund a big share of our higher education system, through mortgage-style loans, is one of the worst possible ways to pay for college. More...