I think that this is a really important point that isn’t discussed much. Someone between the ages of 18 and 22 is making a decision without much experience that will potentially result in decades of debt. As Saul points out, they are generally making this decision on the basis of the conventional wisdom about college degrees. That is, that a college degree will result in more rewarding, higher income jobs. While this may be statistically true still, in many cases it is not true. So I agree with Saul, if you’re one of the people where the college degree didn’t pay off, then you made an unfortunate decision without sufficient information.

I went back to graduate school in 2011 and got my Masters degree in 2013. I paid for the degree with Stafford student loans. Being a master of poor timing, my degree didn’t payoff financially as I hoped it would. However, I went into it as someone with a great deal of life experience. I made a bet and the bet didn’t pay off. But it was an informed decision.