Taking out loans to cover college tuition is one of the top regrets for recent graduates, a new PayScale Biggest College Regrets survey has revealed.
Nearly 27 percent out of 248,000 surveyed students with at least a bachelor’s degree reported that student loans are one of their biggest regrets. 66 percent said that they have an educational regret overall.
Across different generations, millennials rank highest with 28.8 percent regretting taking out their student loans, followed by 26.2 percent among members of generation X, and 13.4 percent among baby boomers. Graduates from private schools also reported having more loan debt than those who attended a public school.
Health science majors regretted taking out loans during their college career the most, followed by students with arts and social sciences majors. In comparison, students with math, engineering, and communication majors did not report regretting taking out loans to the same degree.
Master’s in business administration (MBA) and master’s degree graduates are most likely to regret loans, followed by people with a Ph.D or a bachelor’s degree.
“Our research shows the student debt crisis is impacting today’s graduates in a very real way. Not only are they struggling with the burden of student loans to pay for the rising costs of education, but they are then also faced with stagnant wages for jobs in many areas of study which have not kept pace with inflation when they enter the workforce,” Wendy Brown, director of PayScale, said in a statement.
“While the experience of going to college is a cultural ideal for many, the cold realities of cost and income are making many students regret their college decisions,” Brown added.
But relief is potentially coming for millions of graduates if legislation introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) passes in the Senate. The legislation seeks to forgive more than $1.6 trillion in student debt held by 45 million people across the country. It would also make two and four-year public and tribal colleges and universities tuition-free and debt-free.
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