Last week, MetroTrends bloggers explored two critical financial concerns for metropolitan America – college students with crushing debt burdens and homeowners underwater on their mortgages.

• Margaret Simms cautions high school graduates (and their families) to make informed financial decisions as they head off to college – considering both future debt burden and the long-term financial benefit of having a college degree.

• Rolf Pendall highlights new evidence on difference across neighborhoods in the severity of the foreclosure crisis, concluding that racial segregation – as well as sprawl – plays a big role.