Uh, as recent as six years ago, the common refrain around the state school I went to was "C's get degrees," and various statements about how all you need is the

Uh, as recent as six years ago, the common refrain around the state school I went to was "C's get degrees," and various statements about how all you need is the piece of paper. Hah. Plus, most people in college believe that just having a degree will entitle them to a six-figure job. Seriously. They've surveyed college students and found this to be true. Most don't realize that the average American household income is something like $40K. And even those who do, or who look at the distribution of pay for their chosen profession (though most studying English, American Studies, Art, etc. don't have a career in mind), may make fatal errors in evaluating the trade-offs. My wife and I were top of our class, both very bright (if I do say so myself), we knew about the income distribution (etc.) and we still screwed up and took out way more loans than we should have. Oops. Even on IBR our payments are the equivalent of a car loan for something nice. So now we're living with the consequences and it'll definitely shape how we talk to our kids. We'll lean on them heavily to live at home through college, go to community college for the first two years, and then finish at a state school. The less debt they have out of college the better their choice set.