With Summer underway and back-to-school looming, student loan debt is a consequence that many students will face this school year. Despite a majority of Americans (55%, including 65% of Echo Boomers and 61% of Gen Xers) indicating that the government should regulate college programs to help make sure that graduates can get jobs and repay college loans, the U.S. Senate has yet to come to an agreement on student loans; as a result, new loan rates are on course to double for incoming students if no action is taken.

In a world where Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg cast a spotlight on making it big without a degree, is a college education really worth it? This is among the questions The Harris Poll set out to address in an online survey of 2,210 adults interviewed between June 12 and 17, 2013 by Harris Interactive. 

Student loans delay dreams

Nearly four in ten Americans (37%) confirm either currently paying off student loan debt (16%) or that they have in the past (21%), with half (49%) of Echo Boomers either currently or previously affected.

Among current and past "student debtors," nearly two-thirds (64%) have put off a spending and/or saving goal in order to put money toward their student loan debts.  Some deferred goals include:

• Saving toward retirement (35%);
• A "dream" vacation (29%);
• Buying or leasing a new car (29%);
• Buying a home (24%);
• Among parents of children under 18, putting money into a college fund for their children (22%); and,
• Seven percent (7%) have even delayed a cosmetic procedure.

The percentage of parents of minors who are delaying or have needed to delay putting money into their children's college funds is especially worrisome. "What's striking," notes Harris Interactive VP and solutions consultant Dana Markow, "is that the economic impact of the student loan crisis is not only following students themselves, but is being visited upon the next generation as well. More than two in ten parents who have had to pay off student debt have deferred saving for their own children's college education, increasing the likelihood that this crisis will continue."

Totally stressed out

When comparing student loans to a number of common stress triggers, the majority of current and past debtors (59%) feel student loans are or were more stressful than at least one of the activities tested. These include:

• Credit card debt (32%);
• A trip to the dentist (25%);
• Worrying about losing a source of income (24%);
• Moving (24%);
• Doing their taxes (23%); and,
• Public speaking (20%).

What's your "cut"?

When asked what should be the maximum percentage of one's income to go into repaying college loans, the average percentage reported is 16.9%, identical to 2011 findings.

• Perhaps surprisingly, Echo Boomers – the generation living most firmly under the weight of the student loan crisis – show a higher average "percentage of income" cap (21.8%) than any of their older counterparts (16.6% Gen Xers, 13.7% Baby Boomers, 13.6% Matures).
• Those with a high school education or less feel the cap on payments' percentage of income should be higher, when compared to those with further levels of education (20.7% HS or less, 14.6% some college, 12.9% college grads, 14.0% post grads).
• Men are comfortable with a higher percentage of income threshold than women (18.7% men, 15.2% women)

Mixed grades for colleges and universities

While majorities of Americans feel that both a college education and an advanced degree is worth the cost (65% and 61%, respectively), strong minorities agree that each does not help people get a job (40% college, 38% advanced).

There appears to be a sharp division in feelings toward higher education centers, particularly when profit comes into play.  While roughly half of Americans report positive opinions of both public colleges/universities (52%) and their private, not-for-profit counterparts (47%), only a third display positive opinions of private, for profit colleges/universities (32%, down slightly from 35% in 2011).

What's more, six in ten (60%) Americans specifically feel that for-profit colleges and/or universities don't care how many of their students graduate, just how many enroll and pay tuition (up slightly from 57% in 2011); by means of comparison, 44% say the same about public and not-for-profit schools. This feeling toward for-profit institutions is especially strong among college graduates and advanced degree recipients, who have experienced a full dose of higher education firsthand (56% HS or less, 57% some college, 68% college grads, 71% post grads).