College is to Blame

NEW YORK — A majority of young Americans say student debt is a major issue facing the nation, a new poll finds, and many blame colleges for the problem.

Fifty-eight percent of adults ages 18 to 24 consider rising student debt levels in the United States a “major problem,” according to survey results released exclusively to The Huffington Post on Tuesday by the Harvard University Institute of Politics. Only 3 percent said it’s not an issue at all, while 22 percent called it a “minor problem.” Yet even among people who weren’t enrolled in college, 54 percent still considered student debt a major issue.

A plurality — 39 percent — blame colleges and universities for the rising amount of student debt, compared with just 10 percent who think students are at fault. Survey respondents were more likely to blame colleges for rising student debt if they were currently enrolled in school.

The cost of a college degree has increased 12-fold in the last 30 years, while having such a degree has become even more important to those seeking full-time employment. But policy experts and consumer watchdogs have increasingly flagged the wealth loss and ripple effect that the nation’s $1.2 trillion in student debt is having on the economy as a whole.

“Young people who are coming of age today understand that getting a postsecondary education is important [but] they have a lot of fear about the rising cost of higher education,” said Rory O’Sullivan, Policy and Research Director at Young Invincibles, a group that aims to represent young people in policy debates.

Matthew Segal, co-founder and head of millennial advocacy nonprofit OurTime.org, was “pleasantly surprised” to see that young adults are putting responsibility for the trend with colleges.

“People are finally realizing that the college arms race must stop if we are ever going to rein in costs,” Segal said.

Read more at The Huffington Post