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The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe
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About The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became A National
Product Description From acclaimed Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Mitchell, the “devastating account” (The Wall Street Journal) of student debt in America. In 1981, a new executive at Sallie Mae took home the company’s financial documents to review. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” he later told the company’s CEO. “This place is a gold mine.” Over the next four decades, the student loan industry that Sallie Mae and Congress created blew up into a crisis that would submerge a generation of Americans into $1.5 trillion in student debt. In The Debt Trap, Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Mitchell tells the “vivid and compelling” ( Chicago Tribune) untold story of the scandals, scams, predatory actors, and government malpractice that have created the behemoth that one of its original architects called a “monster.” As he charts the “jaw-dropping” (Jeffrey Selingo, New York Times bestselling author of Who Gets in and Why) seventy-year history of student debt in America, Mitchell never loses sight of the countless student victims ensnared by an exploitative system that depends on their debt. Mitchell also draws alarming parallels to the housing crisis in the late 2000s, showing the catastrophic consequences student debt has had on families and the nation’s future. Mitchell’s character-driven narrative is “necessary reading” ( The New York Times) for anyone wanting to understand the central economic issue of our day. Review "A devastating account...The story he tells is so infuriating that it could induce apoplexy in a Zen monk.” —The Wall Street Journal "Necessary reading for any politician or activist who wants to change the way we make college education available to all." —The New York Times "Proves the old adage that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." —Forbes "Vivid and compelling" —Chicago Tribune "A shocking history, dominated by an attitude of exploitation toward American students and their families." —Literary Hub "The book is sure to garner attention, as well as make readers take a close look at the cost of higher education. Parents, students, and educators will find it enthralling and possibly be moved to push for industry reforms." —Booklist, starred review “This urgent report makes a convincing case for reforming the loan program to allow students a fair shot at college, at a reasonable price. An alarming study of an economic crisis long in the making—and entirely avoidable.” —Kirkus Reviews "A deeply reported, jaw-dropping book. A must-read for every student, parent, and educator. Through engaging storytelling, this timely book helps us understand, in the same way as The Big Short did with housing, how we allowed a student-loan system started with good intentions during the Great Society to grow into an uncontrolled behemoth that has left tens of millions of Americans saddled with trillions in debt." — Jeffrey Selingo, New York Times bestselling author of Who Gets In and Why and There Is Life After College “A masterfully written, surprising, and deeply reported book that is studded with breathtaking insights on every page. The Debt Trap is about more than student debt — it’s the true story of how America’s ladder of opportunity was turned into a debtor’s prison. It’s all here: Well-intentioned government programs gone awry, corporate corruption, exploitation, and the unbreakable hope of American people working tirelessly for a better life. An indispensable book to understand one of the most urgent problems in our country today.” — Christopher Leonard, New York Times bestselling author of Kochland "A powerful investigation into one of the most important economic crises of our time. The storytelling is lively and emotive, which is crucial for understanding the human impact of towers of student debt on everyday Americans. The book should be read by politicians, parents and students alike as a cautionary tale of how government policies can bring enormous gains while als
