This is one of my key issues that I feel need to be addressed.
1. It turns most, not all, but most people's 20's into a type of extended adolescence. You can't live in a big city, have a 1500 a month mortage and pay student loans back on a 35k a year job. So most move back in their parents. Which leads me to my 2nd point
2. It's the reason why people aren't getting married and why women are putting off having kids. They literally cannot afford to.
My best friend is a female. She's smart but she's not a rocket scientist or anything. She has a degree, has a good job making about 50k a year, but works in New York and still has about 21 thousand in student loans to pay back. She's 26, between her car payment, her regular bills, her gym membership and her diet (she's a health nut), she can't afford to get her own place, or save money to get her own place and pay back her student loans. She will probably be 30 by the time she pays back her student loans and you're telling women to find a man, the right man lol, at 30-35, get married, buy a house and have a kid in a 5 year window basically.
As a single guy who did not attend college (I went to tech school and learned how to work on computers, as I knew that's what I wanted to do) and has no student loan debt, I'm not marrying a woman who has student loan debt. I'm just not doing it. That's not fair to me. The girl above, her BF is basically taking the same stance. Why would I want to marry into 20k of debt that isn't mine?
Most people's lives aren't starting until they are in their 30's / mid 30's. Most people cannot even fathom buying a house until they are 35 anymore. Savings? lol. Retirement money? all of that is going towards paying off student loan debt.
I'm not saying it should be free. I priced schools when I was in HS getting ready to graduate. Back then (2001) it would have cost me about 13k a year to attend the University of Arkansas. I could have and would have gotten a part time job and I would have qualified for some grants because I'm a minority and I'm smart. I would have came out of college with a degree and a manageable amount of debt. I could have moved back home for a year and probably got it all knocked out. \
Today it's 21k
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/coll ... hoolId=479I can get a part time job, get my grants and today I would still have at least, 30k in debt once I walk across stage.