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Are Student Loans Burying Graduates?
DrHogie asks: "This is an interesting Op/Ed piece on student loans -- and how they bury the graduate in a load of insurmountable debt. As someone who is considering going back to college to finish his degree, are student loans (and the degree they get you) worth the debt load?" Update: 05/09 5:45 GMT by C :I apologize. The link in this story is bad, and I can't locate the original story on Yahoo. In the meantime, here's a replacement story in the same vein, and an article about student debt and how most college kids are having to work more to offset rising tuition costs. The original question is still valid, however. Is college getting to be too expensive for the average high school graduate?
Student loans are not that bad if you do what I did, put most of college on credit card... No, that's not right...
More seriously, student loans are not that bad, infact are a decent investment. For a lot of jobs a diploma really looks good, so you should be able to demand more, especially when just out of school since you need that better pay to pay off college. Also, you do not necessarily need to go to a huge named school to get a decent education. If you start with a local CC for your first year or so to get the gen-ends out of the way then go to a "real" state school you can get a decent education at a reasonable price. All said an done, I probably spent less on college then I make in 8 months. While that may seem like a lot, school loans tend to have lower interest rates and payment is deferred upto six months after you get out.
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
Nobody forces you to take a student loan. And by having them so easily available, it gives a choice of college when they would not have that choice. Now, that Visa that you got in exchange for a free T-Shirt that you racked up 15k on for beer and clothes... kill those.
This isn't the sig you are looking for... Carry on...
My college saving evaporated in my sophomore year when my dad lost his company. If it wasn't for the federal school loan program (and getting lots of part time programming jobs), I would have had to drop out. The interest rates are extremely low (usually near the prime rate) and the cost to taxpayers is almost nil, AFAIK, so it's good for everyone.
I'll be paying $80 a month for the next 30 years, but I wouldn't have my current (great) job if I didn't have a degree, so in the long run, there's no question. Student loans are a wonderful thing.
The issues isn't loans; it's the outrageous cost of higher education. Tuition has risen MUCH faster than average incomes, often in the double digit per year range. So what it costs to go to college versus what you can save before toward tuition, and what you'll earn for the first ten years after graduation (typical payoff timeline) is really different now. Also, interest rates are much higher; my first undergrad loan was at 5%. My grad school loans were at 8.5%.
o sts/199 8/07july/straight_talk.html
Interesting link:
http://www.acenet.edu/washington/college_c
Student loans are not the real heart of the problem with education debt. Yes, they open opportunities to pay for an education one might otherwise be unable to afford. But the fact so many people need loans to go to those colleges is indicative of the need for better government support in education. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, as well as in states like California, education is surprisingly inexpensive because it is subsidised for local residents.
In America this would be a controversial use of tax dollars, but I can't imagine it being more controversial than using tax dollars for a war in Iraq, or for a tax refund that will bankrupt our Social Security and Medicare programs before I'm old enough to use them. I don't mean to bash the current president specifically when I say this. Rather, I mean to point out that subsidised education would benefit a lot of people, and be more useful than what we're doing with our government now. It's money well spent if it means that people graduate with little or no debt. I'd probably own a house right now if I wasn't still paying loans.
I took the last exam of my undergraduate career yesterday and will graduate tommorow with $0 in debt.
Here a few of the things I did to make that happen:
1. Went to a state school in my home town and lived at home most of the time. Saved a ton of money there.
2. Freelanced and made some decent money (while learning my trade!!!!!) instead of a burger-fliping job...
3. Co-oped three semesters, and used the money from this to buy for a good chunck of school.
4. Didn't abuse credit cards or live a crazy lifestyle (beer adds up, first from the wallet, then to the belly)
5. And lastly, in the spirit of full disclosure, my dad help me a little the first few years, take advantage of every oppurtunity you get...
Yeah, I know sounds like my college years sucked, but they didn't really. I didn't need dorms to find friends, and I traveled a lot with money i saved over the years. For those of you about to say that most state schools suck. I agree, ALL school suck if you attitude is that you are going there to sit in class and be pumped full of info. I learned so little IN class, but out of class, I learned a ton, special projects, starting a business, independant studies, etc...
There is just about no better feeling to be had with your clothes on that having your car and dipolma paid off.
Now bring on that 30 year mortgage!!!!
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Not finishing college or some other educational enhancing facility at all, once you start, is really lame
I'm sure a couple of fellows named Gates and Dell would have a different opinion.
Most of the people I know who feel "buried" either went to colleged that cost ~$19,000 per year or didn't work at all and ate off their loan amounts. I've gone the "high-stress/low-debt" route--work full-time and only put the tuition on the loan balance.
Danke tres mucho, tovarishch.
I've been out working for a couple of years now and I still owe about a $100k. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my debt. Over a third of that is from credit cards (as a student, sometimes you do what you have to do to make ends meet). But even tho the other 2/3 is from school loans, I'm more worried about the credit card debt. The monthly interest on my cards, alone, is eating me alive. If you can afford to eat, entertain, and house yourself for the next x years remaining without charging up the plastic, then the degree is well worth it IMHO. Just be careful to avoid my pitfalls and send wisely, stick to a budget, and stay away from those cards or you may really regret it years down the line.
Grad school does not pay you. At least, not reliably. (Disclaimer: All of the following claims are about the humanities)
Also, most schools most certainly do offer subsidized, inexpensive housing to grad students. You're not entirely on your own. Living in cheap housing is a part of grad student life, and you're actually better off sharing a big old house with a bunch of fellow grad students than trying to live like a dot-com himbo in limbo the rest of your life. Living in cooperative housing is part of the grad school experience--and it's the greatest source of the intellectual stimulation you're in grad school for in the first place.
You'll have to get creative to find cheap entertainment, too, by the way. We had a neverending game of bridge running in the living room, which had modified "Tenement" rules. Anybody who had to go to class could pass on their hand to someone else, shouting which suit was currently trump as they ran out the door. In Tenement Bridge (not to be confused with Tournament Bridge, which is also a good way to make money) it was valid to end a really bad hand by saying "Who dealt this river of s**t" which, if the other players reiterated this code phrase, it was a reasonable point to break out into a "card fight" --google on "Ricky Lee" and "Cards as Weapons" for more info :)
Then there was "Mad Max Wednesday." The local movie theatre had a dollar off for the first show of the day, another dollar off on Wednesdays, and another dollar off for students. Movies were five bucks in those days, so we'd get everybody together to skive off early on Wednesdays to see a movie if there was something good on--for two bucks a head. The first one we saw was "Mad Max--Beyond The Thunderdome" which is how the practice came to be called "Mad Max Wednesday" or, conflating it with another contemporary movie, "A Mad Max Afternoon."
On the topic of funding, some of my fellow grad students in mathematics used to play tournament bridge and backgammon in the local bridge and backgammon parlors for money, two used to take alternate semesters off to work as traders at the Chicago Board of Trade. Another worked as an actuary alternate semesters, in a cooperative arrangement.
But be prepared to live on beans and rice for a few years. Dried beans cost next to nothing, onions and carrots are cheap, and do go to the farmers markets. Some indian shops and co-ops sell nuts and oats in bulk very cheaply. And you can't imagine how good a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a big cold glass of milk can taste sometimes. You can also find out when and where various receptions are being held on campus, and, well, dress nicely and eat up, it's expected! Do attend the seminar, too, though--you pick up a lot of interesting notions. This is called "participating in the life of the mind," and this, too, is expected.
Sure, it hurts your wallet in the short run... as does any good investment . Plus, it's a fun way of life--I did it for nearly 20 years, counting undergrad, MSc, a 2-year stint as a unix sysadmin in one of the departments, then as a grad student again to get my Ph.D., and then several years of research on postdoctoral grants and fellowships in North America, Australasia and Europe. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. Plus, your alumni associations and your associations with alumni are an ongoing source of interesting correspondences and friendships for the rest of your life. As an alum, also, you have substantial influence in changing some things on campus for the rest of your life.
All in all, the plusses outweigh the minuses, but it's not a purely financial calculation.
Yes, I have. Did you ever take a history class? The movie underplays the role of the French. See http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/time1 .html#french for a more accurate accounting. Here's a representative sentence: "The French navy transported reinforcements to the southern American army under the Marquis de Lafayette, fought off a British fleet, and protected Generals Washington and Rochambeau's march to Virginia."