For Today’s Typical Student, Degree = Debt

Earning potential comes with a price.

Completing a college degree is, for many students, the gateway to a successful life. A person with a bachelor’s degree will earn, on average, nearly twice as much in a lifetime as someone with only a high school diploma. But that earning potential comes with a price. In keeping with a national trend, student debt for newly minted UW-Madison graduates keeps going up. In 2009, almost half had an average debt close to $23,000 — up $7,000 from only ten years ago.

Source: Office of Student Financial Aid

Published in the Summer 2010 issue