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Notes -
It’s not a real expectation based on real data on the part of either party.
The student at least the ones I know are not looking at data, the expectations of employers in the field, the number of graduates per opening, or their own talents. Just for a trivial example, we graduate more BS in Psychology students every year than there are working psychologists in the USA. And it’s been that way in a number of fields for some time. Other fields have a very tiny demand for phd students, and no other real demand. Some teach skills that one can learn on their own by simple practice and peer review (mostly the arts). But I don’t see demand for poor bet degrees falling. People are still going to school and “expecting” to get a good job after graduation. Likewise, they’re not really being honest with themselves about what they can actually achieve. C students in high school and college simply are not going to stand out enough to get the internships they need to get the kind of jobs allow them to afford to repay that $40K a year in tuition loans. You aren’t going to do well in engineering if you’re not doing A to high B in physics and high level math. The thinking here isn’t based on reality but simply fantasy.
On the lender end, getting a student loan is much much easier than getting any other kind of loan. If you want a home loan, you need to have a good job, have had that job for a number of years, have excellent credit, and even then you’re limited in what you can get. You might only get approved for a small amount based on history. If you want a business loan, you need the steady income and good credit, but you also need a business plan, and one that makes sense to the bank. If you want a student loan, you just get one. No credit checks, no need for a strong work history, no grade requirement, no thought as to whether a major in X is worth the investment. Just sign here and take out the loans.
What I think the issue is coming from is the government backing of these loans. If the law were changed to allow defaults in limited cases, or after a given time frame, I think it would set both things to right. Kids would have to think, really think, about what they’re going to do after high school. If they want college they’d have to work to get in, work to keep grades high to keep their loans, and so on. They would be forced into getting useful skills in college rather than doing whatever sounded fun at the time.
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