But getting started is increasingly rocky. Among students who begin paying their student loans back before they are 21, the default rate is 28%, said Susan Dynarski, an economist at the University of Michigan.
“There are a lot of kids that went to school to escape a weak labor market, they took out loans, and now they’re going back into the labor market, and many are still experiencing some distress,” she said.
Those problems dissuade some students from getting a college education. Weak outcomes, combined with fewer graduating high-school seniors and stagnant household incomes, run up against the laws of supply and demand, said Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington. He predicts a continued rocky path for colleges, students and their families.
“College is still more costly for kids than it has been,” said Mr. Vedder. “The key ratio is family incomes to the cost of college, and since family income isn’t improving, the cost of college will probably continue to get worse.”
At the very least, the specter of all that debt has made students much more price-conscious.
Taylor Kimberly, 23, a full-time student majoring in business at Edgewood College in Madison, Wis., previously attended Madison Area Technical College so he could get his general credits more cheaply.
“It makes a lot of sense to do that first,” according to Mr. Kimberly, who said he also works part time as a bike mechanic to cover his living expenses, while his parents, both salespeople, pay for the $12,000 tuition each semester.
“It’s almost like mandatory to go to college,” said Mr. Kimberly, talking about his parents’ approach to college. “Tuition seems very expensive to me. That’s because I don’t have a full-time job making a salary.”