Students overpay for useless degrees and end up financially hobbled for life. Let’s discuss the setup with a spotlight on master’s degrees.
by Mike ‘Mish’ Shedlock
Mish Talk
Financially Hobbled for Life
Unable to discharge debts in bankruptcy, students with useless degrees, especially master’s degrees are Financially Hobbled for Life.
Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000. Yet two years after earning their master’s degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.
The university is among the world’s most prestigious schools, and its $11.3 billion endowment ranks it the nation’s eighth wealthiest private school.
Lured by the aura of degrees from top-flight institutions, many master’s students at universities across the U.S. took on debt beyond what their pay would support, the Journal analysis of federal data on borrowers found. At Columbia, such students graduated from programs including history, social work and architecture.