New at Reason: Mike Riggs on the Higher Education Bubble

August 5, 2011

A growing chorus of economists and educators think that the higher education industry will be America's next bubble. The combination of easy credit, high tuition, and poor job prospects, writes Associate Editor Mike Riggs, have resulted in growing delinquency and default rates on nearly $1 trillion worth of private and federally subsidized loans. Now the ratings agency Moody's has weighed in with a chilling diagnosis: "Unless students limit their debt burdens, choose fields of study that are in demand, and successfully complete their degrees on time, they will find themselves in worse financial positions and unable to earn the projected income that justified taking out their loans in the first place." 

(Photo via Flickr user jferzoco)

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