NYT always picks from the extremes when it tells a story like this. Most student is manageable, even a good investment. The average student loan debt for an undergraduate degree is 29,000, and many students have none at all. Contrast that against the future earnings of a college diploma over a high school degree: nearly 1 million dollars over the lifetime of work. Source: https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/Exec-Summary-web-B.pdf If anything, the takeaway from this article is that parents need to have some sober conversations with their children about costs. Not everyone _should_ much less can go to college, and most people need to pick more economic options. Sell my house to put my son in Jazz School? To each his own, but I would would not sacrifice my own standing for a passion that has only a shadow of a career.