I was reading an article about the student debt crisis in the U.S. and it started me thinking about the students I know here in Canada. The national number may be lower (some estimates put U.S. student debt at $1,000,000,000,000) but on an individual basis, it’s just as painful to those who must repay it.

All of this raises the question of why this debt exists in the first place. Why do students take out loans they have no reasonable hope of repaying? Having taken the loan, why are they then complaining about their debt levels and defaulting in record numbers?

At least part of the answer lies in our societal notion of entitlement. We are trained from an early age to expect the world to give us what we want. We are taught that our jobs should be fullfilling and where possible, something we love and want to spend the rest of our lives working at. Which is why I’ve known several young people who enrolled in film school. It is their passion… but how employable is it?

That is a major consideration when looking at the student debt issue. When taking out that student loan, how many people are looking at the actual projected demand for their eventual skills. Likewise, most “academic” subjects such as English Literature, Political Science, Anthropology etc have relatively few postings relative to the number of people enrolled in each cohort. A prime example being a very pleasant young man I knew several years ago. He spent 6 years working as an investment banker to pay off his Philosphy degree. He hated working as an investment banker, but there just weren’t that many paid openings for a philospher.

Since many students have shown a fairly consistent disregard for this idea, it falls to the lenders to implement it. A simple actuarial table such as those employed by insurance companies would be a start. All that would be required would be data tracking which career paths have the highest probability of repaying the loan. It’s not perfect, but it’s a place to start.

At the same time, everyone from parents to guidance counsellors need to start rethinking the message they give their children. It’s not about doing something you love, it’s all about making a living… and repaying those loans. Most people don’t love their jobs. That’s why employers pay them to show up for work. By encouraging our young people to focus less on the “dream” job and a little more on “real” jobs, we might give them a better chance to get out from under those student loans before their own kids go all post-secondary.

I know that it’s everybody’s dream to see their children graduate from college or university. The problem isn’t the dream, it’s the nightmare. It’s a student loan that prevents them from getting a car, or a house, or travelling or any of the other things that they can’t dc when they have to spend every dime servicing a massive student loan. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get a post-secondary education, I’m just saying they should be a little bit smart and a little bit choosy about what they get.

Cheers, Winston