Includes bibliographical references and index.

Federally guaranteed student loans are good debt / Sandra Block -- Student loans are toxic debt / Mary Pilon -- Student loans lack consumer protections / Alan Collinge -- Student loan defaults are the result of bad decisions / Jacob Sullum -- The recession makes it hard to repay student loans / Samantha Hillstrom -- Most people easily repay their student loans / James Monks -- Student loan debt should be forgiven to stimulate the economy / Robert Applebaum -- Forgiving student loan debt would be irresponsible / Brian Kumnick -- Pell grants are needed to make America competitive / Pat Garofalo -- Pell grants raise the cost of college and cause education inequality / Richard Vedder -- For-profit education resembles the subprime mortgage industry / Steven Eisman -- For-profit education does not resemble the subprime mortgage industry / Harris N. Miller -- Low-income students take on too much debt at for-profit colleges / Arnold Mitchem -- Excessive regulation of student debt will harm low-income students / Lanny J. Davis -- Holding for-profit colleges more accountable helps low-income students / Marybeth Gasman -- Student debt creates conditions much like indentured servitude / Jeffrey J. Williams.

Presents a collection of essays on a variety of loans for college education and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of student loans.