Right now, eager 18-year-olds from across the country are tweeting with bravado photos of their newly postered dorm rooms and scanning with private fear their freshmen class schedules. They're embarking on a journey to capture their piece of the American Dream.

“Demos applauds President Obama for using the bully pulpit to shine a light on the college affordability and student debt crisis facing our nation. While Congress and state legislatures have failed to lead on this issue, the President’s tour promises to help highlight the dangers of tying

With today's big higher ed speech, it's becoming clearer what President Obama's most important legacy may be: He could be the guy who finally stopped runaways costs for two of life's biggest necessities: healthcare and higher education. This would be a big deal, because -- quite apart from issues of

While a college degree may give graduates a leg up in their careers, students who graduate with high student loan debt can find that ticket to be a costly one. According to a study by the public policy research organization Demos, student loan debt may be more detrimental to your financial future

About two-thirds of the 20 million people who attend college every year borrow money to do so. We’ve heard a lot about how growing educational debt loads — the average student borrower now graduates owing $26,600 — can be a detriment to someone just starting out in life, and to the health of the

U.S. Representative Marlin Stutzman said, "Most people will agree that if you are an able-bodied adult without any kids you should find your way off food stamps." That depends on whether those ways can be found. If Stutzman and other members of Congress believe it's that easy to find a job with a

Once upon a time, we invested in our young people so that they could enter the world without debt. Now, we turn them into deadbeat debtors before they're old enough to legally buy a drink, left far behind their financial betters.

One of the sorriest American myths these days is that getting into enormous debt will secure a better financial future for today’s students. Not only is debt a manacle for future generations, it’s not good for the country at large — a $4 trillion burden on future earnings and wealth. When

It's not so depressing if you think of it as 200,000 fewer purchases from The Dollar Tree over the course of forever. Currently, the average student debt balance for a household headed by two college graduates is $53,000, and according to a new study by research organization Demos, those households

A student who takes out $53,000 in debt, the average amount for those attending a four-year public university, will experience a a lifetime loss of wealth totaling $208,000, according to a new report from the think tank Demos. It dives into the long-term costs of rising student debt and finds that