Four-year college degrees still pay off; however, one-quarter of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. Meanwhile, total student debt now exceeds $1 trillion. And heavily indebted students face risks.One is that they fall short of their income potential, through some combination of unemployment and inability to find a job in their chosen fields. Research has shown that on average a college student taking on $100,000 in student debt will still come out ahead by age 34. But that break-even age goes up if future income falls short of the average.
