• Tweet ^[1]
• Email ^[2]

• Tweet ^[1]
• Email ^[2]

A few months ago, the subject of a Your Take centered around which generation had the most debt ^[3] (prompted by an infographic from Experian). In looking at the infographic, and how the younger generations had much higher levels of debt, I thought about the impact of student loan debt. The results of a recent survey by the College Savings Foundation ^[4] showed that recent graduates are more likely to delay milestones of independence, such as getting married, having children and buying a house. When you are burdened with a significant amount of debt, it’s hard to get ahead and on with your life.

Highlights from the survey (recent graduate refers to someone who graduated in the last year):

• 36% of recent graduates said they had to live with parents longer than expected
• 40% of recent graduates were delaying when they would buy a house.
• 19% of recent graduates were delaying when get married.
• 21% of recent graduates were delaying when they would have children.
• 70% of recent graduates were employed.

The survey discusses how these numbers compare with older graduates and in all cases the recent graduate numbers are higher, so it shows a trend that’s worsening, but I’m not surprised by it. My alma mater costs an eye popping $60,000 a year now and I graduated a scant ten years ago.

Next week, we’ll have a two part interview with Peter Mazareas, Chairman Emeritus of the College Savings Foundation. He shares a lot of good information about saving for college that I think anyone, from students to parents, will find extremely educational.

What do you think? Is college debt to blame? Or is it more about the economy? Or both?