College was supposed to be ‘good debt.’ For many borrowers, it isn’t paying off — SkimNews
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- U.S. student loan debt exceeds $1.7 trillion carried by more than 42 million borrowers, up from roughly $516 billion and 28 million borrowers twenty years ago.
- Private four-year college tuition tripled in inflation-adjusted terms, from $14,550 in 1971-72 to $45,000 in 2025-26, rising about 5.5% annually since 1983 and outpacing both inflation and wages.
- Federal student loan defaults climbed to roughly 9.3 million borrowers as of June 30, a 50% increase from 6.2 million in 2016, while the share of borrowers owing more than $100,000 grew from 2.4 million to 3.8 million over the past decade.
- Trump's "one big beautiful bill" eliminated several affordable repayment plans, replaced shorter 20- to 25-year timelines with a new 30-year Repayment Assistance Plan, and ended deferment options during unemployment and economic hardship.
- The Education Department quietly recalculated borrowers' Public Service Loan Forgiveness progress and clawed back qualifying payments, leaving borrowers like Richard and Kasie Bares facing two more years of payments.
- Entry-level job openings fell 35% between 2023 and 2025 largely due to AI, while the unemployment rate among recent college graduates rose to 5.7% in June 2026 from 4.9% a year earlier.
- Older borrowers are now bearing more of the burden, with the number of Americans over 50 carrying student debt rising from about 7 million in 2017 to nearly 10 million today.
Why it matters: The traditional bargain behind 'good debt' — borrow for college, land a better job, pay it back — is breaking down on multiple fronts at once: 30-year repayment timelines now mirror mortgages, defaults have climbed 50% since 2016, and the entry-level roles graduates depended on have shrunk 35%. The OBBBA removed the deferment and relief safety nets that helped borrowers survive setbacks, leaving the 3.8 million people who owe more than $100,000 with less margin for error than ever.
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