Every generation gets its cautionary tales, but recent stories about young Americans buried under six-figure student loans should be a wake-up call. One millennial reported carrying more than $250,000 in debt after chasing advanced degrees and struggling to find work that pays, a sobering example of education divorced from real-world outcomes.
Other viral posts show philosophy and liberal-arts graduates who followed the professors’ praise and good intentions, only to end up in minimum-wage jobs while owing vastly more than their diplomas are worth. A Reddit account from a recent graduate detailed being over $100,000 in loans after earning both a bachelor’s and a master’s in philosophy and now working fast food to get by — the human cost of the “college at any cost” gospel.
This isn’t an isolated embarrassment; TikTok and social media have been full of young people with six-figure debts from vocational and degree programs that promised stability but delivered bills instead. Another viral creator confessed to nearly $150,000 in culinary school loans while earning barely above minimum wage, reminding us that prestige or passion alone doesn’t erase monthly payments.
Let’s be blunt: taxpayers should not be on the hook for every poor career choice or every school that charges top-dollar for a degree with negligible return. The culture that celebrates “follow your bliss” without teaching budgets, market signals, or trades is failing our kids and our country. Government bailouts of bad educational investments only reward irresponsibility and inflate the next generation’s tuition bills.
Conservatives have long argued for practical education — apprenticeships, trade schools, community colleges, and apprenticeships produce workers who earn, build, and pay taxes without drowning in debt. Skilled trades and technical certificates are honest, patriotic paths that sustain families and power the economy; they deserve more respect than trendy majors that promise meaning but not mortgages. Encourage competence, not counseling majors into a debt trap.
Schools and policymakers must stop pretending every degree is equal and demand transparency on graduate outcomes and placement rates before students are encouraged to sign away their futures. Lenders, regulators, and parents should push back when institutions sell lofty promises instead of verifiable career paths. If we want responsible citizens, we must restore a culture of accountability and common-sense choices.
Hardworking Americans don’t want to subsidize a system that trains people for unemployment while saddling them with lifelong bills. It’s time to promote financial literacy in high school, celebrate trade credentials, and stop treating diplomas as an all-purpose safety net. Let the next generation build something real—with skills, pride, and freedom from crushing debt.
