A big takeaway from this article (for me) is that people are surprised that 17 year old kids don't understand what they're doing when they take out that college loan. Shock and astonishment despite there being little to no preparation for this kind of financial understanding previously in their education. That surprise and shock shocks and surprises me.
Honestly it kind of reminds me of the whole Yelp minimum wage thing. Person knowingly takes a minimum wage job in the most expensive city in the world and is surprised a year later when that wasn't very much money and they're struggling. The simplest cost of living calculations would have said "moving to that city and taking that job is a really bad idea."
This isn't to say that there aren't things that need to change. Education reform is necessary as well as a living wage, but I'd also argue that basic financial literacy is also a requirement for being an adult and should be treated as such.
Honestly it kind of reminds me of the whole Yelp minimum wage thing. Person knowingly takes a minimum wage job in the most expensive city in the world and is surprised a year later when that wasn't very much money and they're struggling. The simplest cost of living calculations would have said "moving to that city and taking that job is a really bad idea."
This isn't to say that there aren't things that need to change. Education reform is necessary as well as a living wage, but I'd also argue that basic financial literacy is also a requirement for being an adult and should be treated as such.