Aram Zucker-Scharff

You can blame student debt for America’s inequality and shrinking middle class:

There is a tendency among elite opinion makers to believe that debt accrued while gaining a college degree is “good debt” that isn’t problematic because, as the thought goes, those with college degrees tend to make enough money to recoup their debt over a lifetime. Student debt is supposedly an equalizer—

But…

Student debt is actually preventing them from participating in the wealth-building processes that previous generations have enjoyed.

The debate over student debt usually focuses on those right out of school, but that masks that a substantial portion of those with student debt struggle mightily to pay off their loans in a timely manner, delaying (sometimes in perpetuity) their entry into the middle class. Research by the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that many borrowers still haven’t paid off their student loans by their 40s and 50s.

$500 Million in Student Debt Documents Stolen and Burned in Chile:

A video shot by a Chilean student who has stolen and burned $500 million in student debt documentation has gone viral in the country’s student circles.

Student Debt isn’t just a crisis in the US. Elsewhere people are getting a bit more inventive in attacking the problem.

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After consolidating and re-financing her loans over the years, Cindy owes $87,000 on the principal and $42,000 worth of accumulated interest. She is four years away from retirement and her social security will likely be going into the hands of Ed Financial, who took over her loan from the federal government. Cindy is one of 40 million Americans strapped with student debt, many of whom will never be able to pay off their loans.

“College is a bad investment that only pays off if you don’t have to go into debt to get your degree,” she said. “Borrowing to get an education guarantees you will never get anywhere or have even the most basic aspects of the so-called ‘American Dream.’”

With the cost of higher education currently at 27 percent above the rate of inflation and continuing to rise, students are being forced to take out greater sums, which often double, triple, or even quadruple over the years as interest adds up. Meanwhile, school administrators are lining their pockets. A report from the Public Policy Institute this month correlated school executive pay to student debt. Examining the top 25 priciest state universities, Public Policy notes that the “student debt crisis is worse at state schools with the highest-paid presidents,” where administrative costs have dwarfed funds spent on scholarships by more than two to one.

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– Dear Class of 2014, You’re F*cked.

Student debt is going up. Graduates’ incomes aren’t.:

College grads are earning less and less while they accumulate more and more debt.

TL;DR: Higher Education graduates face diminishing returns as salary is lowest in 5 years and debt is highest ever for those who are years out of college.