Popping the Higher Education Bubble: How to Navigate the Impending Student Loan Crisis

Cheap credit on student loans coupled with widespread beliefs of ever-increasing returns on investment has caused college tuition to vastly outpace inflation and family incomes. From 1976 to 2010 commodities prices rose 280% and homes prices rose 400% while private education rose an incredible 1000%. While the price of education has skyrocketed, the value of a degree has not kept pace. The increase in supply of degree holders has created an imbalance in the labor market . In 1940, only one in 20 Americans held a college degree. By 1977, that number had soared to one in four. Over the past 30 years, higher education has gone from facilitating upward mobility to exacerbating inequality. For the first time in history, the majority of unemployed Americans attended college, and it’s no more expensive than ever to go to college. Student debt is now greater than $1 trillion and many graduates are unable to secure employment sufficient to pay off these loans. As a result, students are increasingly beginning to default on these loans. Popping the Higher Education Bubble discusses the causes of the economic bubble, the harmful effects it has had, potential solutions to the problems, an analysis of whether college is still a wise purchase, and more. The higher education bubble has many similarities to the housing bubble. By comparing the student loan bubble to the mortgage bubble, this book also identifies potential outcomes and investment opportunities were the student debt bubble to pop.