My local newspaper—USA Today section—had an interesting article depicting the sorry state of four young female college graduates saddled with crippling student loan debt. All four ladies went to in-state schools in the same state on the eastern seaboard.

I thought it might be useful to deconstruct this piece, but I’m not going to give you a specific reference. I will explain why later.

The article has two underlying themes. The first is that college is for everyone regardless of cost and student loans are a “necessary evil.” The “expert” quoted here is Mark Kantrowitz a nationally-recognized expert on student financial aid, scholarships and student loans. His resume on these subjects far out shines mine. He has been quoted in more than 5000 newspaper and magazine articles in the last five years and has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, Huffington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Money Magazine, Bottom Line/Personal, Forbes, Newsweek and Time Magazine. (I was lucky to get one op-ed printed in my local newspaper.) Mark has testified before Congress and federal/state agencies. (I can’t get my local state senator to return my calls on this subject.) He is the author of four bestselling books about scholarships and financial aid. (I wrote one book that nobody wanted to read because my premise is that, today—post Great Recession of 2008–going to college is a risky business.)

Mark’s “money quote” is, “As a general rule, if a student’s annual income is more than their student loan debt total, they shouldn’t have trouble paying the loans back in ten years.”

Now I like Mr. Kantrowitz’s website—FinAid, but his advice on student loans is dangerously bad. If you follow his advice, graduate from college, and get a good job, you’ll be paying roughly 15% of your income each month on student loan debt—given today’s relatively low interest rates. In my opinion that’s not quite a disaster, but it is not a good thing.

But here’s where his advice REALLY SUCKS. Three out of four who matriculate don’t graduate and get a good job per the Department of Labor. Those three are likely to be trying to pay back their loans while working part time at Starbucks for $14/hour. (Currently 40% are not making any loan payments.)

When it comes to student loans, it is very important to “play your cards close to the vest,” i.e. be very conservative. Those of you who read my stuff know I advocate the “Eight Percent Rule,” where monthly loan payments shouldn’t exceed 8% of your targeted monthly salary. (For example a school teacher with a starting salary of $40,000 could afford about $23,000 of debt.)

The second underlying—and recurring—theme is that these young ladies are VICTIMS of a wicked, immoral system. The article comes complete with names and a head-and-shoulders photo lineup of the four women each holding up a piece of paper displaying their dreaded debt. (This is why I’m not giving you a specific reference—I think it’s embarrassing.)

Here’s a thumbnail of the women’s background and current situation with the names changed:

Jane has a degree in math and a master’s in business and science from a state school where she lived on campus for six years. Now she’s going to school part time for an MBA. She has a job, but she is one of the 40% of young people age 18-34 living at home. She should have majored in astronomy because her debt is an astronomical $148K.

Mary has a degree in communications from a very expensive private school—over $30,000 per year just for tuition and fees. (She did commute.) In the post Great Recession of 2008 era communications is a “soft” major. Not surprisingly she couldn’t find a job in her field and is under employed in an administrative position. Living at home, her debt is $92K.

Doris went to a community college for two years–finishing her bachelor’s degree at an expensive ($30,000 per year for tuition and fees) private university where she commuted. This was followed by two more years at the same expensive school to get her MBA. She has a very good job, and she has managed to whittle her debt (originally $85K) down to $50K. However to make ends meet, she has to live at home.

Judy started with one year of community college followed by six years in two expensive ($30,000 annually for tuition and fees) private schools to earn her education degree. She is married and employed as a teacher. Her debt is “only” $53K.

In my opinion these young ladies, abetted by their parents, made some very foolish post-secondary education decisions–we are talking serious financial consequences here. That sounds harsh, but I’m a big believer in personal responsibility. (Albeit you have to cut them some slack because of their age.) I also put some of the blame on the high schools that are just funneling these young people pell-mell into college without regard to the risks.

I fear we are raising a generation of young people many of whom are never going to be financially independent. Given the high cost of college and the shaky economy, parents and students need to take the issue of post-secondary education planning a lot more seriously.