Article on College Debt- so true it makes me cry

[LuluLovesDisney]

Here's an article on Student Loans and how it's affecting college graduates. I have so much I want to say about this but I'll just post the link and see what you guys think.

It just makes me so sad that people who do what their best to become successful- study hard, graduate from college, end up having to give up careers they really want, delay or forego marriage or children because they can't pay off college debt.

In addition, it affects people who want to marry someone like this. You can be totally in love with someone and want to spend your life with them, but it is still a hard choice to sign your life over to someone with 80,000 worth of college loan debt, because you're marrying that debt, too.

We tell our kids to study hard and go to college to have a comfortable life and to make our dreams come true, and in reality, so many college grads are giving up their dreams of careers, marriage and family because of money.

Here it is:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/01/pf/college/reverse_dowry/index.htm


Do you agree?

 

[Feralpeg]

It is certainly a double-edged sword. Without the loans, many could not afford college, but it certainly comes with a hefty price.

DD was told that she qualified for student loans, but she turned them down. I did not have loans to pay back after college and I will do everything in my power to make sure that DD doesn't have them when she finishes.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well for starters--we are out of college debt--my hubby makes a good living and WE can't afford a home in metro DC. So for the graduate initially mentioned--her inability to buy a home isn't soley due to her student loan debt. That is very misleading.
Sure being in the middle of the action is important for a poly sci career, but that is one of those things to think about BEFORE you decide upon that career choice.

Same deal for the Columbia graduate. WHAT WAS HE THINKING. Could have picked a lower COL area to live--or even a cheaper school.

Hmm--and the California grad.

Did they interview people who stayed in Iowa--or who don't live in areas where the starting home purchase price is half a million dollars?

My brother graduated with student loans--is a teacher in Jacksonville and just bought a house in Georgia--b/c he could get a nice home for much cheaper without too much impact on his commute (he's JUST over the border). So all hope is not lost for those who must use loans to go to school.


I think the article is skewed and no I don't agree with it in this particular case. They didn't pick good "samples" to demonstrate the "dire" circumstances as it seems all three were for the most part self-created. (Even the Columbia grad decided his invaluable education wasn't worth $50K).

They picked people who chose to live in astronomically high COL areas--places that with no student debt and my hubby nearly 10 years into his career...can't even afford to move to. So of course a student with even $10K of debt or no debt might have a teeny bit of a problem.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

My husband & I were just talking about that earlier today. Young adults cannot even afford to move out of their parnents homes anymore. The way today's job market is, you need at least a 2 year degree just to get a low paying entry level job. My daughter was tossing around either teaching or nursing. I told her nursing. At least with that she needs only 72 credits & can get her RN. She will start out making more than what a teacher makes & that is going for a 4 year degree. My poor son is clueless as to what he wants now. He left college last year, worked full time & is now considering going back but he isn't sure what he want to go for. He may actually be better off in a trade school. He has been working as a cook in a small family owned Italian resturant & enjoys cooking. I suggested maybe Culinary school as one of his options. This coming fall it will be tuition for 2 for my family. I cannot see them putting themselves into that much debt either. I do not agree with it. That is not how one should start off their adulthood... in debt

 

[disneylizzy]

I agree with you - very scary. There was an article in the Business & Money section of the Sunday Boston Globe today. The daughter needed the recently divorced mom to cosign a $26,000 loan so she could start at Roger Williams College. Mind you, that's $26,000 for just Freshman year. She "only" received 1/3 of the tuition & room and board in financial aid.

She would end up owing over $100,000 by the time she graduated. The financial planner said, No Way. The daughter should go to a state school, take a year off and work and save or start at a community college and transfer.

It is not worth it to go into that kind of debt for undergraduate education.

 

[yearbook50]

When I graduate in May 2008, I will only have 20,000 in debt. That isn't that bad at all in my opinion compared to others. My fiance is well aware of the fact that he is marrying me including my debt. We should have it payed off within 5 years of graduating if we live frugally, which we are willing to do.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Not to be a jerk but maybe more people need to consider public colleges, trade school and community colleges as viable options to their road to success. Just because you got accepted in ABC University @ $20,000 a year doesn't mean you SHOULD go.

My best friend has $150,000 in student loan debt (she did back to back undergrad and grad). Is she in her chosen career field..of course not! She working at a job that pays her bills and does her "major" on the side. Now she's in over her head with credit card debt too.

The public's dollar speaks louder than words. Why support a school you can't afford to go to?? Why not go to a local school that is reasonable? I've done it (with no debt).

The universities ALWAYS look out for their bottom line...why can't the students (and their families) look out for theirs?

 

[MrsPete]

It just makes me so sad that people who do what their best to become successful- study hard, graduate from college, end up having to give up careers they really want, delay or forego marriage or children because they can't pay off college debt.

I agree that it's sad. I live in a low-cost area (unlike the places mentioned in the article), and I personally know people who are living in apartments, driving used cars, waiting to have children JUST because of student loans.

She would end up owing over $100,000 by the time she graduated. The financial planner said, No Way. The daughter should go to a state school, take a year off and work and save or start at a community college and transfer.

Sounds like that financial planner had good sense. For a typical high school grad (good health, no children), there's always a less expensive way. It might be community college, military service, a less expensive school, living at home . . . but there's always a way. It might not be as easy as borrowing, and it might not be as much fun, but there's always a way.

The problem is that we've told students that you can't put a price on education, and it's worth going going into debt. We have not taught them to comparison shop when it comes to colleges. Couple that with the idea that an 18-year old doens't have a real sense of how much 100,000 is -- yet we're asking them to make the commitment to pay that back. Should we really take an 18-year old student who's used to thinking about money in terms of fast-food meals and gas in the car . . . and assume that that student can make a decision about borrowing 100,000? Is that 18-year old really ready to make a decision about paying back a loan that'll last (according to the article) 30 years?

When I graduate in May 2008, I will only have 20,000 in debt. That isn't that bad at all in my opinion compared to others. My fiance is well aware of the fact that he is marrying me including my debt. We should have it payed off within 5 years of graduating if we live frugally, which we are willing to do.

Yes, that debt can be paid off in five years with frugal living, but that's easier said than done. My husband and I had no debt when we were first married (other than a mortgage on a 72K house), yet I don't know where we'd have found money for loan repayment. We had all hand-me-down furniture, one car for the two of us to share -- those first few years are hard enough even without debt!

Not to be a jerk but maybe more people need to consider public colleges, trade school and community colleges as viable options to their road to success. Just because you got accepted in ABC University @ $20,000 a year doesn't mean you SHOULD go.

My point exactly. And just because you can borrow 20,000 doesn't mean you should borrow 20,000. Yet I remember plenty of people in college who maxed out their student loans . . . so that they could live in apartments instead of dorm rooms, forgo part-time jobs, buy new clothes and go out to dinner. They all had the same attitude: "When I graduate, I'll be rolling in the dough, and I won't even miss that little bit of money that'll go towards the payment!"

 

[Caradana]

I agree with most of what has been written above, but don't lose hope - there are schools that are answering this call. I had a single mother and two siblings. There was no money. I wound up at a school with a no-loan financial aid policy and that made all the difference. Had I gone to the state school (Rutgers), even with a full scholarship, I think I would've had about $30K in debt from just 4 years of living expenses.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Just want to point out (without going into nauseating detail, as I often do ) that both DBF and I went to public, state schools. Because I had my parents to help me out, I graduated without debt. My BF did not receive one cent from either of his parents. He has had a job since he was 14. He paid application fees, traveled to visit colleges on his own, had two jobs during his stay as a full time student and still graduated with quite a large chunk of debt, which he's paying off little chunk by little chunk. If you don't have a parent who helps you out, even a state college's tuition, room and board, plus costs like books, bedding, laptop (he was a double major in IT and business psych so he needed a computer) toiletries, phone bills, etc. will add up to starting life in debt. Because his parents could not afford to help him during those four years, we will be in debt for the first ten or more years of our life together. We are delaying marriage, as well as many other things, because of financial reasons. It is also one of the biggest reasons why I consider not having children. We're 26. We don't want to have kids unless we're financially stable, but if that doesn't happen until we're 36, or older, is it fair to start a family at that age?

Just wanted to point out that while state colleges are a smart choice, they are not the answer. You can still go to a state college and graduate in debt. You can work and go to college and still graduate in debt.

I live with my parents. He has a very low cost apartment (for Northern NJ at least) We share a tiny used (almost 10 years old) car. I get to work an hour early so he can drop me off before he goes to work. We are living economically as well.

 

[Lisa_M]

My husband and I are both 24 years old. I will graduate in May with my master's degree in School Psychology with about 70k in SL debt. (Undergrad was at a state school). He is finishing up ITT for drafting with a 33k in SL debt. He is working in his field already and I am about to start my internship. Unfortunately, this debt does hamper our ability to buy a lovely starter home for $200k in this area, but it is not the end of the world. Without our education, we would not be entering or already partaking in our dream careers. It's not all bad even though it seems astronomical. I figure my first year I can start at high 40's and we'll just tackle the debt as best we can. Hell, we've locked our payments over 30 years, so worst case scenario we'll be paying til we're 54, but I think we'll be done in 10 years.

 

[JoiseyMom]

It is a choice the student and usually the parent makes. State schools are no bargain, as a poster mentioned above. Rutgers is very expensive. A student can get much more aid and fewer loans attending a private University. Private schools have the endowments to offer more grants to more students. My ds just graduated from a private college and has over 20k in college debt. He also went on a ROTC scholarship and received 15k towards tuition for each year, and recevied a grant from the school for room and board. And yes, he received federal grants and other grants, and still had to borrow. He has a job that pays next to nothing for the next four years, but he is frugal and plans on paying down as much of it as possible as quickly as possible. He knew what he was doing, and he made his choices. In some ways he got lucky, during his four years of college, I became a SAHM to his youngest sibling, and my husband spent most of the past 4 years under-employed and looking for work. This helped in the financial aid aspects of ds's college career. I now have 8 & 13 years to worry about the next ones .

 

[pearlieq]

What I don't get is why student debt would stop anyone from marrying. The only thing I can think of is that they want money for a more lavish wedding, which I think is a choice, not a pitiable condition.

I can understand putting off kids, but why marriage?

I really don't think student loan debt is the end of the world. A student who is a savvy consumer and a good shopper can get a decent education for a manageable price. I came out with about 14k in debt. I refinanced it at 3.3% and it costs me $94 a month. It's not killing us. Heck, most new grads spend that much each month on beer!

Frankly, I'm not going to feel sorry for a kid that incurred 80k of debt at an expensive private college any more than I'd feel sorry for someone who racked up 20k in cc debt buying shoes. Both are risky financial decisions.

 

[disykat]

I don't know anyone my age who bought a house within 5 years of college graduation -it just wasn't an expectation. While I agree that it is sad to have tons of debt from college, I think that is is very reasonable to expect to have to live frugally as a student and to have 5 or even 10 lean years after being a student. I was 30 when we bought our first home.

It was even more of an expectation for the generation ahead of me. My dad was a doctor. My parents bought their first home when dad was 34 and their youngest child (me) was going into Kindergarten. We started going on nicer vacations when he was about 38. Prior to that, we lived more frugally as they paid off Dad's college and medical school.

I think it's unrealistic to expect to be able to "live the american dream" complete with new homes and nice vacations as a young person straight out of school. Those are things to work toward, not have handed to you on a platter.

 

[mking624]

Not to be a jerk but maybe more people need to consider public colleges, trade school and community colleges as viable options to their road to success. Just because you got accepted in ABC University @ $20,000 a year doesn't mean you SHOULD go.

I think there's a misunderstanding when it comes to college. First of all, many times you can get more scholarships and grants for going to a private school. My husband is a prime example of that. Had he gone to a state school, he would've needed tp take out the same loan as he did for the private school he attended. The school he went to was $17,000 a year, and his loan is for that amount. That's a pretty small loan for a private school...he got grants/scholarships for everything else. Second, depending on your field of work that you feel "called" to, many places will hire someone from a known school before they hire someone from state or trade school. I hate that it's that way...but that's the reality. Third, the type of education speaks for a lot of it when it comes to what you want to major in. My husband majored in history and his school's history department was really good, better than the state school. Before being called to seminary, he planned on becoming a medieval history professor. Going to a school that didn't focus on that would not have given him the education he needed for that career, even though it would have been cheaper. Now that he is in seminary, the same thing comes into play. There's a seminary not far from where we used to live that would have been cheaper to attend, but did not offer the same quality of education nor does it provide the same areas of study he wanted to focus on. It's easy to make a decision if you're only looking at the cost of the school, but there's A LOT more to it than just that.

The public's dollar speaks louder than words. Why support a school you can't afford to go to?? Why not go to a local school that is reasonable? I've done it (with no debt).

I've already explained my reasons. I'll support a school if I know that they are providing me with the education I need for my choice of career. It's pointless for me to go to a school that doesn't have some sort of specialization in what I want to do just so I can save money. Because even if I save money, I'm not going to have what's needed to actual do the career I want.

 

[Caradana]

I can understand apprehension to marry someone who's carrying six figures of debt. I would absolutely feel that way myself.

Also, honestly, I want the magnificent princess wedding. I only plan on having one of these in my lifetime (okay, maybe two, if I outlive him and meet some nice man who will wear matching jogging suits with me when I'm 80 and living in a Florida golf community), and I want the works. I have a vision in mind, from the white orchids to the filet mignon to the gothic cathedral. We're saving for it. I could see delaying marriage a year in order to raise the money for that one fantasy event, if that's what it came down to. Luckily for us it hasn't, but I stand ready to defend anyone who's delaying marriage in order to construct a certain kind of event.

 

[robinb]

I paid off my student debt from a state school (as an out-of-state student) a long time ago. I choose a major that I *knew* I would get a high paying job right off the bat. I majored in Computer Sciences and I loved it. I'm very good at it and I really enjoy it. I'm lucky.

The things that I noticed about all the graduates: graduate A (political science and journalism), graduate B (to a lesser extent: a masters in Journalism) and graduate C (anthropology) is that they both got the "B**by prize" for their fields. That's not to say that they didn't go to good schools, but they also didn't get a PhD. There are some majors (like CS) where the BS is good enough to get a nice job. Then there are other majors (like anthopolgy or history) that a graduate is kidding themselves if they think they will find work with just a BS. It's really sad that kids work so hard, don't make it and then are saddled in debt. However ... I agree with the other posters who suggest that maybe a state school would have been better to a lot of students.

 

[pearlieq]

I could see delaying marriage a year in order to raise the money for that one fantasy event, if that's what it came down to. Luckily for us it hasn't, but I stand ready to defend anyone who's delaying marriage in order to construct a certain kind of event.

I certainly get that, and I definitely don't begrudge anyone wanting their dream wedding. It's a perfectly logical, adult decision.

What I was saying is that I refuse to feel sorry for anyone who makes that choice or believe that they're a "victim" of student debt.

 

[robinb]

Also, honestly, I want the magnificent princess wedding.

Wow, Dana! Who knew? I never pegged you as the Princess Wedding kind of woman since you are so ... practical ... about everything else. But, if that's what you want then more power to you!

I could see delaying marriage a year in order to raise the money for that one fantasy event, if that's what it came down to. Luckily for us it hasn't, but I stand ready to defend anyone who's delaying marriage in order to construct a certain kind of event.

I agree with this one . My husband and I put off marriage until we were financially ready and we had a regular old boring wedding .

 

[Caradana]

Wow, Dana! Who knew? I never pegged you as the Princess Wedding kind of woman since you are so ... practical ... about everything else. But, if that's what you want then more power to you! .

Robin, very true and very cute that you posted that. I acknowledge, you are exactly right, it is a touch surprising.
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