With the dearth of newly graduated college students entering the workplace with tens and hundreds of dollars in student debt, it is time for employers to take a stand.
Most private employers, and almost all public/government employers, do a background check that includes finances. So debt laden employment candidates are at a great disadvantage right out of the starting gate.
High quality educated employees will soon disappear if the student loan crisis is not reversed. The U.S. government has started this reversal by requiring thresholds for gainful employment by for-profit post-secondary schools (no references needed if you follow current events) and as a result, many well known for-profit schools are closing, in a way, a testament to their primary objective of making money, not training students to enter the job market.
Employers, public and private, have stood on the sidelines of this disgrace and it is now time to become outspoken advocates. But words are not the only action they can take to help alleviate the student loan crisis. They must actively pursue campaigns that will force post-secondary education, of all types; universities, colleges, and for-profit independent schools, that they will no longer accept the current situation. How they go about this should be an agreed upon policy of all employers. It can be as simple as a stated policy to refuse to accept students with a debt load above a certain threshold based on expect salary over 5 to 10 years. It could be a base threshold amount. They are good at getting their heads together to capitalize on capitalism so I am sure a solution is possible.
The White House and Congress must be made aware of, and act on, the looming crisis. That is, if they want to continue with the mantra that America creates the smartest people on the planet. It is either that or expect the growth to be in minimum wage jobs; expect highly trained employees to be available only through immigration, where the entire world competes; expect our universities and colleges to have a student population made up of primarily foreign students, who will go home as soon as they graduate.