That's the best case scenario. The data sets used above are made by comparing 1996 data to 2004 data, as this graph shows the rates they're getting are much smaller than for students that got loans after. Specifically student loans flatlined during the dotcom bust, but kept growing through the great recession. The data also does not cover all cases and it's impossible to know how many loans are actually nonpreforming, rather than just in total default. One of the things the study mentions (and the reason for it's existence) is that there is not much good or reliable data on this phenomenon, similar to the circumstances before the 2008 crash.
Late 2020s is extremely optimistic. Again with a (supposedly) booming economy a quarter of student loan debtors are in default. If the job market suddenly shrinks, there's going to be blood as grads walk into an empty job market expecting large salaries that justify their investment.
Because everyone else goes on spending sprees after they "get in", especially when they are getting their first credit cards and bank accounts at 18. This is how banks hook them young.
Jeremiah Gutierrez
180,000 boomers is only about .40% of the overall US population, but the 2008 crash happened with only about 2,100,000 different individuals defaulting. As there are about 40-50 million Americans with student loans, this is about 11% of America's population being directly affected by student loans.
Because the school told you you'd need it and that it would help you succeed, and because you're about to drop tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a 4-12 year education $3000 is a drop in the fucking bucket.
