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An entire generation of people got student loans to improve their lives. Then the pandemic happened. It's shown that the margin for error for these young adults had was slim in the best of circumstances, and today it's non-existent. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid via @BuzzFeedNews
A 23yo will graduate in May with $32k in student loans, plus debts he's taken since losing work last year. He feels paralyzed, but remembers when you're running: “If you ever get tired, just keep falling forward and your feet will just keep catching you.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid
One man did sex work shortly after enrolling to help make the college's Expected Family Contribution, which was his family couldn't afford. He was later diagnosed with PTSD. "The precariousness of my existence was hinged on a few thousand dollars." https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid
...he's still paying back his loans for attending college. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid
Understanding student loans is especially hard for first-gen college kids, whose parents can only offer limited guidance. One woman realizes now that her parent's friends who said "don't worry about the money" were wealthy. She didn't see that as a teen. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid
Hers is an important point: about half of undergrads are the first in their family to attend college. Thinking through the investment in education is new territory for them. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid via @BuzzFeedNews
Nearly 60% of undergrads take out a student loan, many who are the 1st in their family to go to college. They get no guarantees of what work they'll do, what the job market will be like, and if they get a job in their field. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid
Even worse, the @stlouisfed found that the impact of having a bachelor's degree on a family's wealth is "statistically indistinguishable from zero" — unless they are white https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid
If nothing else, we must admit that this is a lot of risk for a teen, and it has big, long-term impacts on their lives. Families with low-income assume huge amounts of risk in pursuit of upward mobility, and the system we created for them is unforgiving https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/student-loans-covid
