students and account for higher education policy for decades or possibly the rest of their lives mike friedman has a ph d. in biology and works as a part time teacher because he can't find a full time position it's the option of getting an education and being in a state of financial or economic insecurity for the rest of your life according to the federal reserve bank of new york americans sixty years or older still owe thirty eight billion dollars in student debt and ten percent of that group is past due on payments senior citizens can even have their social security checks taken away the money reportedly redirected to banks waiting to collect. as the investment of a degree morphs from security to risk more americans are reportedly turning to online colleges to save money while others are suing for a refund dozens of lawyers have filed class action lawsuits against their own law schools accusing the colleges of fraud and inflating employment figures. it was an american dream when qualification equated to security but now the once cherished degree. appears to be no more than a gamble marina po