The student-loan burden

The WSJ interviews people who’ve been hit hard by the fine print of compounding student loans.

[Dr. Bisutti] recently entered a rehabilitation agreement on her defaulted federal loans, which now carry an additional $31,942 collection cost. She makes monthly payments on those loans—now $209,399—for $990 a month, with only $100 of it going toward her original balance. The entire balance of her federal loans will be paid off in 351 months. Dr. Bisutti will be 70 years old.

What’s scary about this article isn’t the stupidity of certain student loans — it’s the pervasive notion that student loans are a good investment. Even with a solid foundation, such as medical school (in Dr. Bisutti’s case), one can still get burned and drown in endlessly compounded debt. I can only imagine the amount of debt that’s going to come out of the past couple of years of college-bound kids — attendance rates have soared in the past decade. What happens when they all get out of school and realize the promise wasn’t all it was cracked up to be?

Via @josermejia.