Higher Education with Student Loans - Good or Bad?

Its that time of the year again. Proud parents, high hopes and expectations from the class that graduated, young minds eager to join the workforce, etc etc. As if it was not enough that this year is one of the worst times to graduate out of college, what with the economy not doing that great, add to that the fact that this years graduating class will be one of the highest debt ridden class coming out of college.

According to the latest available data, the graduating class of 2007, carried a debt of about $20,000 for public universities, and about $25,000 for a private university after finishing a four year degree.

Everybody talks about how getting a college degree is so important in todays competitive world, how it is one of the most important things that you can do in your life, which will make or break your career. But this college degree comes at a price and it is not cheap. When you have 22 year olds, barely out of college, carrying levels of debt that can most of the time take years to pay off, aren't they setting foot into this whole new world of expectations on a back-foot.

NY Times in its series, Room for Debate discusses the topic, "When it comes to student debt, How Much is Too Much".

Graphic below provides the student loan debt by each individual state.



Detailed picture at BrokerGradStudent