Crown Asks "How Low Can You Go" and Advises on How to Graduate without Debt

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Right now, students (and parents) across the country are preparing college applications and for college placement testing, but are they prepared for the bill? asked Crown Financial Ministries CEO Chuck Bentley in a national op-ed. "Don't be emotionally blackmailed into crushing debt for the hope of a job," said Bentley. "Your options are limitless, but your debt shouldn't be."

Bentley observed, "When Forbes magazine published its listing of America's top colleges, looking at 'best value' as a criteria, I knew that 'value' for many prospective students really means 'debt'.  For today's graduates, shiny promises quickly lose their luster when the student loan payment book arrives before a job offer.

Before you assume college is "always worth it", look at the facts. The higher education industry has been raising its prices exponentially. In fact, while U.S. jobs are paying an average of 23 percent less since 2008, the overall cost of a degree from a four-year public school is up 27 percent beyond overall inflation. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicates that student debt at more than $1.1 trillion is greater than credit card and car loan obligations.

"We have a student loan bubble," observed Bentley. So let's start with the big question first, college or educational alternatives?

A wake up call to gluttonous college and university leadership may come as students use their time and resources to pursue a trade, rather than a degree. In his op-ed, Bentley outlined college alternatives to consider including vocational education, on-line education and apprenticeship, but for those ready to seek their college degree, consider Crown's recommended "12 Steps" to earn it without debt.

Bentley noted, "Choosing debt should be done with a calculator and a good understanding of the long -term implications. In general, for parent or students, only 5 percent of after-tax, spendable income should go to debt repayment. When student debt (or any consumer debt) devours more than 8 percent of available income, financial stress will dramatically increase and may turn the dream degree into a nightmare."

Chuck Bentley is CEO of Crown, a nonprofit business and personal finance educational organization, and best-selling author of "The S.A.L.T. Plan: How to Prepare for an Economic Crisis of Biblical Proportions" as well host of the nationally syndicated radio feature, My MoneyLife™, follow him, @chuckbentley. For more information, go to www.crown.org. For interviews, e-mail: [email protected].

SOURCE Crown