The Wall Street Journal asks whether the U.S. created an "education bubble" fueled by easy money and overborrowing by families desperate to pay rising tuition costs?
Expect a hastily sputtered "no way" from economists, university officials and student-lending specialists. They attach a high monetary value to academic degrees, no matter how fast tuition rises. As proof, they cite the big and growing income gap between college graduates and people with just a high-school degree.
The student-loan market has been riddled with signs of trouble lately. Default rates are rising. Big-name lenders are pulling out or scaling back. And investors who used to snap up bonds backed by bundles of student loans have snapped their checkbooks shut.
Borrowing to pay for higher education may be a lot like mortgage-financed home ownership: a great idea that can be badly tarnished when financial markets lose all remnant of discipline.
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