<prompt> Human: Apologies for the incoming wall of textI was doing a lot of reflecting after that post yesterday about the person in 240,000 of debt. Take someone who made the decision to go to college 5 years ago. They made their decision prior to the economic crash of 2008. The cultural zeitgeist at that moment in time did not include discussions about student loans, or at least, it did not to the extent it does today. Neither was there the shifting focus from go to the best college you can to go to the college you can afford or even have you considered not going to college.I am now realizing the perhaps societys message to young people is changing, or at least, should be changing. Now, I think the message is, if you are wealthy can afford to pay for college or exceptionally talented can get full scholarships, then yes, pursue your dreams! However, if you are not either of those things, think hard about what you want to do. You may not be able to afford college. Even if you can afford college, you likely may not be able to afford to study what youre passionate about at the moment you enter college. I think its time to be realistic given the cost of higher education. The message to high schoolers should be: unless you have funds available to you, are exceptionally talented or have a passion for something that dovetails with a profession thats lucrative say engineering, for example, then chances are you cannot go to college and study what youre interested in. Your choices are then: i screw college and pursue what youre interested in with all your time and energy, with the understanding that you might be poor but youre at least not beholden to student loans, ii pick something more lucrative that youre less interested in, but that will provide for a debt free life within a reasonable period of time or iii mitigate the cost of college by going to community college first and then go to a cheap state college though, even here, loans could be an issue depending on what is studied.What do you think, PF? Should there be a more concerted effort to change social consciousness away from you can do whatever you want to!?Assistant: If you have more than 100k in student loan debt for a Bachelors Degree, you have done something terribly, terribly wrong in your planning. The guy with 240k in student loan debt is abhorrent. The amount of financial ignorance that has brought him to this point in his life is astounding.As the recovery flounders, the ones who are hardest hit continue to be those without a college degree. At this point in time, a 25 year old with a bachelors degree has a 20 higher chance of being employed at all than someone with a HS diploma Edit to clarify: Its not a 20 higher chance, their employment rate is 20 percentage points higher than those with just a diploma, and, among those with a job, they make, on average, 12k more per year.If theres anything that needs to change regarding our message to young people about their post-HS career choices, it should be an open, honest discussion about employment prospects, salary ceilings and floors, and debt mitigation. There are still hundreds of colleges in the US that provide a quality education that puts the total price tag at less than 80k for a degree, including room and board, text books, etc.We also need to plaster this study up in every high school guidance counselor office in the nation. Krueger and Dale studied what happened to students who were accepted at an Ivy or a similar institution, but chose instead to attend a less sexy, moderately selective school. It turned out that such students had, on average, the same income twenty years later as graduates of the elite colleges. Krueger and Dale found that for students bright enough to win admission to a top school, later income varied little, no matter which type of college they attended. In other words, the student, not the school, was responsible for the success.Human: If theres anything that needs to change regarding our message to young people about their post-HS career choices, it should be an open, honest discussion about employment prospects, salary ceilings and floors, and debt mitigation. I strongly agree with this. Do you think its within the purview of parentshigh school counselorssociety to say the following? Look, you cannot afford your plan as it currently stands. I know that sucks, but thats the reality given your income situationskills. Here are some options that might be better for you. Because I think thats the gap - people advising high schoolers arent and society in general isnt willing to say You cant do what you really want to do. Sorry, tough break. Thats just the way our society it.  <response>: Do you think its within the purview of parentshigh school counselorssociety to say the following? Look, you cannot afford your plan as it currently stands. I know that sucks, but thats the reality given your income situationskills. Here are some options that might be better for you.Of course I do. Its not the job of parentscounselorssociety to coddle people who we have deemed to be mature enough to pilot two tons of steel mere inches from a bunch of innocents. Its our job to foster their growth and ensure that the decisions that they make are the ones that will result in them being as successful as they can be. For some people, that means that they need to go to med school, for others, they should probably get their foot in the door at the factory on the other side of town. Its also our job to hold them accountable for missteps but recognize that consequences shouldnt be overly punitive for anyone involved. 