In 2012, the most recent year for which data are available, workers with just a bachelor’s degree were making a median salary of $46,900 a year while the average student loan balance for people under 30 years old was $21,400. Those numbers aren’t directly comparable, but it does seem that most young people can pay back their debts.
The problem developing is that earnings and debt aren’t moving in the same direction. From 2005 to 2012, average student loan debt has jumped 35%, adjusting for inflation, while the median salary has actually dropped by 2.2%. If that continues debt burdens could start to become more unwieldy.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Congratulations to Class of 2014, Most Indebted Ever – The Numbers Guy – WSJ.
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