The decision by the federal government to get into the business of lending money for college was a disastrous one. Millions of students borrowed heavily for college degrees that poorly equipped them to find productive employment.

In this AIER article, Jeffery Degner looks at the data and sees a gloomy future.

Two emergent trends encapsulate the inescapable trap of student debt repayment. First, the rate of serious delinquencies on student loans is approaching an all-time high. Second, student loan debts are intentionally made nearly impossible to discharge, even in bankruptcy. Despite recent news that some 200,000 borrowers may be seeing significant relief due to misconduct on the part of a handful of schools and lenders, they make up a very slim minority of just 0.4 percent of all borrowers.

Two emergent trends encapsulate the inescapable trap of student debt repayment. First, the rate of serious delinquencies on student loans is approaching an all-time high. Second, student loan debts are intentionally made nearly impossible to discharge, even in bankruptcy. Despite recent news that some 200,000 borrowers may be seeing significant relief due to misconduct on the part of a handful of schools and lenders, they make up a very slim minority of just 0.4 percent of all borrowers.

Delinquencies in repayments have reached levels never before seen.

Degner correctly observes that this is “the chaos that ensues from ongoing government intervention into higher education.”

We need to find an off-ramp from the folly of federal student aid.

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