A Hidden Cost of Higher Education - "Borrowers Who Drop Out"

I ran across a very interesting study from The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education at www.highereducation.org while researching trends in US education and global competitiveness. A link to "Borrowers Who Drop Out - A Neglected Aspect of the College Student Loan Trend" by: Lawrence Gladieux and Laura Perna is provided in the title to this blog. Following is a brief excerpt from the introduction:

"Both individuals and society reap significant economic and other benefits from investing in higher education, and loans have become a pervasive means of financing student costs and consequently realizing these benefits.

However, there are serious negative consequences of the loan trend. For example, half of entering freshmen borrow, and one-fifth of borrowers drop out. In 2001, this meant that there were more than 350,000 ex-students who had begun college six years earlier, but had no certificate or degree, and a debt to repay.

For students who began at four-year institutions and expected to attain a bachelor's degree, borrowers who dropped out were twice as likely to be unemployed as borrowers who received a degree, and more than ten times as likely to default on their loan."

Based upon the current political and economic situation, this issue is likely to become a greater problem. A government over-extended in supporting foreign wars and tax cuts to the rich is not providing new funding for education. To make matters worse, the President's Tax Advisory Panel is now recommending eliminating tax deductions for investments in education. Does this reflect the value America places on the education of future generations?

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