Page 2: Escorting kids to wage slavery

“Student loan debt outpaced credit card debt for the first time last year and is likely to top a trillion dollars this year as more students go to college and a growing share borrow money to do so.

‘In the coming years, a lot of people will still be paying off their student loans when it’s time for their kids to go to college,’ said Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com, who has compiled the estimates of student debt, including federal and private loans.

Two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients graduated with debt in 2008, compared with less than half in 1993. Last year, graduates who took out loans left college with an average of $24,000 in debt. Default rates are rising, especially among those who attended for-profit colleges.

The mountain of debt is likely to grow more quickly with the coming round of budget-slashing. Pell grants for low-income students are expected to be cut and tuition at public universities will probably increase as states with pinched budgets cut back on the money they give to colleges.”

–New York Times, April 11

I was 25 years old, driving west on I-80 in a white Ford Escort. Not even an Escort LX. And the car broke down right at Exit 303 on the west sid