One problem, though, is that many students whose loans are becoming problematic were in school during the financial trouble leading up to 2008 and 2009. During that recession, people without degrees had negative growth in jobs (job loss), while college degree-holders dropped nearly to zero, but did not actually go negative. Associate degree-holders were almost half-way between other the two. Of course, it's great to tell students that they should strongly consider the trades or other paths, but the reality is that those careers are less safe in economic downturns.
