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American dream can never become a reality, not unless our student loan situation improves. As in many other industrialized countries, our countries too face a situation where students are being coerced by opportunist lenders to take loans they cannot afford and get into a financial mess.

Especially people who are financially unsophisticated are unable to resist the greedy offers of these money lenders. Student debts mount even as lenders get what they want through their political influence. When things go out of control, lofty promises are made by officials to fix things. When people gain confidence that things are going to improve, the crisis recurs all over again.

Just like the housing crisis, our higher education seems to be heading towards a massive breakdown. Today, this sector is directly responsible for our country’s soaring inequality. People in the bottom rung of our social ladder strive hard to climb out and they are rudely pushed down.

After World War II, two of the most significant aspects that placed our country on the road to success and prosperity were higher education and housing. Banks had people convinced that their homes represented enhanced savings and enticed them to take home-equity loans before the bubble eventually burst in 2007. Homes were lost by millions in our country who had borrowed beyond their means.
Education today faces a similar crisis. Even as college completion is the only way America can progress economically, students are increasingly unable to afford this luxury. Higher education is fast becoming a luxury low income and even mid-income students are unable to access.

Today, our country is among the top in terms of the burden it imposes on students and their families. America also stands tall amidst other countries in terms of high college degree cost. After the recession, our citizens are already suffering from stagnant income. Combined with unimaginable rise in tuition, where is the opportunity for our students to access higher education without a bleak future saddled with massive debts?

As compared to those without a college degree, students with a degree earn $12000 more per year. Knowledge based industries are the order of the day and there is always a huge demand for college graduates. In terms of university education, sadly our nation has fallen way below in world ranking. In no time, we will be down in the dumps with strangling student loan continuing to be our major issue.

As any expert economist and he will tell you how we can ensure long-term growth only by investing in human capital. What we are doing right now is foreclosing on our growth opportunities rather than striving to develop an educated workforce with the necessary advanced college degrees that will help us stand in good stead in the highly competitive global market.

A major reason why we are unable to recover from the recent economic slump faster is student debt. Economic growth of our nation, especially the real estate sector, is deeply hindered by the dampening consumption. Like the housing sector, student debts cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.