Student Loan Debt Grows Delinquent

Of the $956 billion in student-loan debt outstanding as of September, 11 percent was delinquent — up from less than 9 percent in the second quarter, and higher than the 10.5 percent of credit-card debt, which was delinquent in the third quarter. By comparison, delinquency rates on mortgages, home-equity lines of credit and auto loans stood at 5.9 percent, 4.9 percent, and 4.3 percent respectively as of September. 

43 TROUBLING FACTS ABOUT THE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS

These numbers are very troubling not only for the youth of America but also for those baby boomers that are counting on the younger generations being able to afford the prior generations public debt and promised health care and public pensions.

Perhaps we might try some rethinking of what high school grads do with their time and energy right after high school?

Another argument for more online education

Excellent piece about why we are moving too slowly towards online education and stuck in the mud
with too much of the traditional teaching methods.

How do we get the learning without spending $65,00 per year?

The first question to ask is how do we give access to the learning, information and debate of a typical university without spending $65,000 per year per student?

40 Alternatives to College

Here is another one that everyone considering attending college or paying for someone else's college should read.  James Altucher's 40 Alternatives to College.  Highly recommended.  You can buy the ebook for just $.99 on Amazon or if you go to his website at jamesaltucher.com and join his free insider's list you can download a pdf copy for free.

Young college grads are not faring well!

“About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields."  From John Mauldin's newsletter today.

I would love to see the breakdown by degree - what are the numbers for grads in recreational management and sociology versus those in various engineering disciplines.

College Majors with the Biggest Gender Bias

Just came across a blog post 10 College Majors with the Biggest Gender Gap. This is a fascinating depiction about the bias of the types of degrees that men (on average) are pursuing versus women (on average).

Today more women attend and graduate from college than men. And yet feminists decry the pay gap between women and men (frequently stating the women make on average only 74 cents for every dollar that men earn). Note the gender bias depicted in the article that shows that 95% of Fashion majors and 90% of Interior Design majors are women. On the other hand 92% of Mechanical Engineering majors and 91% of Electrical Engineering majors are men.

I for one think there is very little discrimination against women today and rather attribute the differences to two key factors: 1) women on average are not pursuing the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects nearly as frequently as men are and 2) women take more time off on their career to raise children (on average). Interestingly, childless women on average today earn as much as childless men.

Not all college studies will produce the same results. If one studies a “fun” major with little demand you are likely to end up back at the local grocery store trying to get a job after graduating from college. But if you earn a degree in Petroleum Engineering (especially if you are a women) you will start out earning as much as 3-4 times as much as your friends that majored in Social Work.

We need more STEM graduates in America (men, women, minorities) and those that are pursuing these difficult subjects will on average have more choices after graduation. My granddaughter starts High School in the Fall and right now she is quite interested in Science and Math. I will do everything I can (which has only limited impact) to encourage her to pursue these interests.