Here at Debtor’s Prison, we’re not big on posting links within articles.  But here’s one

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1275242514-wCTp6UtEV1S1hPtiShkU6Ahttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1275242514-wCTp6UtEV1S1hPtiShkU6Ahttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1275242514-wCTp6UtEV1S1hPtiShkU6A

I could respond to this point for point but that wouldn’t be fair to our readers too lazy to click the link and in order to provide themselves with the necessary context SO instead I will give the opposite scenario so my post stands alone.

Johnny and his parents approached college with a grim determination: to get through the process with as little cost and effort as possible.  Like many parents with their own lives Mr. and Mrs. Johnny were anxious to get another body out of the house and college savings weren’t what they could have been if certain cars hadn’t been leased and certain boats hadn’t been purchased.  But you only live once.  Besides, if Johnny possessed any particular gifts there would be scholarships.  There were no scholarships.

Johnny was going to state school.  But state school wasn’t free.  It ended up being cheaper to set Johnny up in his own place and let him get that Associate’s Degree before moving on to State.  When their friends asked where Johnny was attending school they said he was taking some time off to visit Europe.  Reluctantly, they sent him to Europe for a month to substantiate their story and so Johnny would do well enough to transfer to state after two years.

While getting his Associate’s Degree Johnny met working adults with children who had gone back to school.  After babysitting for one such parent, he’s offered a part-time job in a real office getting real experience in IT networking.  Johnny continues to work there summers after transferring to State and one Winter after his parents inform him they are only paying for three semesters.  Johnny gets college credit for his work and graduates in the same class as his peers. 

On the night of his graduation Johnny becomes intoxicated and hits and seriously injures a minivan filled with the relatives of a fellow graduate from out of state who paid more for a single class than Johnny has paid for his entire Bachelors.  Because Johnny befriended the son of a cop in community college he is able to name-drop his way out of any citation.  Instead the mother of the other graduate is charged.

Johnny goes to work for the IT shop full-time at a starting salary of $65,000.  His parents paid a total of $19,000 for his entire education.  During his college years Johnny was able to save $27,000.  Two years later his company pays for his MBA where he meets Lyla.  They fall in love, date, and eventually get pregnant.  Johnny considers proposing when he discovers that Lyla owes close to $150,000.  He cites that, not the kid, as the reason for their break-up.  He is currently 28, making six figures, and romantically involved with a young medical resident, a local waitress, and a 19 year-old high-school senior who hopes to attend his community college (where he lectures) after finishing summer school.

…Is this the new American Dream?