Of the nearly 20 million American who attend college each year, about 12 million borrow. Estimates show that the average 4-year graduate accumulates $26,000 to $29,000 in loans and some leave college with six figures worth of debt. Student debt now totals more than either credit card or auto loan debt.
About 40 percent of households led by some 35 or younger have a student loan debt according to a 2012 Pew Research Center analysis.
What has caused this rising student debt? It has been driven in part by rising tuition and reduced state funding and costlier campus facilities. But this increased debt has other consequences. These college graduates cannot afford housing or need to postpone marriage and having children.
It would appear to me that governments could take advantage of this debt by postponing it or even cancelling it so that these graduates would take jobs as educators or law enforcement officers or could provide vital service jobs that have been difficult to fill.