The average starting salary for a 2018 college graduate is $50,390, up 2.8 percent from 2017, but the just-released July CPI report shows the inflation rate rose 2.9 percent over the last year. Does the phrase “treading water” come to mind? (Photo: Shutterstock)

(Bloomberg Opinion) –It's that time of year, when students prepare to head back to the classroom. For many taking the next step in higher education, the question is increasingly, “Is it worth it?” Millions of millennials have already put off settling down because of the rising costs of servicing college debts to the detriment of economic growth.

Student loans are now the second-largest category of household debt in America, topping $1.4 trillion and trailing only mortgages at $9 trillion.

And while Korn Ferry puts the average starting salary for a 2018 college graduate at $50,390, up 2.8 percent from 2017, the just-released July Consumer Price Index report shows the inflation rate rose 2.9 percent over the last 12 months. Does the phrase “treading water” come to mind?