Interesting Rolling Stone article on college debt

[Colleen27]

I feel for you in Michigan..assuming your son is staying there. MI insurance rates are crazy..but that is partly due to how the insurance is structured there.

Yeah, our insurance is really nuts... and the fact that your zip code and credit score matter more than your driving record is a kick in the teeth to those of us old enough to remember a time when people who drove safely paid less. Fortunately (for them anyway), neither of my older kids plan to stay here long-term. Son is going to school here because he's interested in a trade and our community college has a great program for not a lot of money. Older daughter is looking exclusively at out-of-state colleges and a career path that doesn't have much of a place in the Midwest. So eventually they'll be laughing as my rates skyrocket while theirs plummet... because I want to move back to Detroit from the small town we're in now once the kids are grown, which will easily double our rates overnight.

 

[maxaroni]

It's pretty messed up that the advise people are getting is to major in things they can afford to pay back. So only people on full scholarships or will pay without loans should taken a major that has a low starting salary.

Somehow I don't think that will happen.

Plus, this ignores the fact that people should study what they are interested in.

"Do you have the potential to be the next John Amos Comenius or John Dewey, but can't afford the $40,000 a year teacher salary? How about be a mediocre lawyer instead!?"

My point was more that if you are going into teaching, one should consider their college choice vs money available. For instance, having a $99,000.00 debt to pay off, as a teacher, is just going to be never ending. IMO, don’t choose the college she chose and then dorm there to add to the amount of debt. In this particular instance, parents could not/would not contribute. Student wanted “x” school and dorm there. “X” school is in a commute distance to home. Perhaps choose the school but commute. Now, if the job is better paying than a teacher, that changes the whole thing. Yes, go for your passion but to be in that much debt is ridiculous, IMO.

 

[DisneyOma]

It’s sad. We were talking here about teachers not making a lot than they have college debt. A lot of people who graduate college make $$$$$$ a year so they can pay it off easier of course than a teacher. Teachers can get more pay by summer school, tutoring students. Whatever it takes but suicide is never the answer.

In my state (MA) teachers cannot privately tutor students for money. It's a conflict of interest.

Well put. VERY suspect. As Judge Judy would say, get another part time job, pick up cans, tutor, coach a sport for the stipend, officiate school sports for $35 a game, wait tables, find a way to make more money, or move somewhere where you can get a full time job with better pay.

Teachers work almost full time as it is, at least here in MA. End of August to almost the end of June, and there's very little time to take all the Pd credit courses, etc, that they have to take to stay certified. They also bring home tons of work to correct, or stay late at school to correct. The teacher parking lot is still half full at least two hours after school gets out at our local HS. Also, see above about tutoring.

There are plenty of ways to get a college degree and graduate with no debt. I did it myself this millennium so it isn't just an 80's thing. I lived at home and worked a full time job year round, not just a minimum wage job for a few months in the summer. Managed to pay as I went without any monetary help from loans or family.

I'm getting a graduate degree now fully funded by my employer because I made sure that was a part of my benefits package before making my last move.

As a pp stated many of these huge debts are from a lack of planning or understanding finances. If you have 5 colleges within driving distance of your house there is no reason to take on loans to go live somewhere else. If you do that was a choice you made knowing the consequences. If you need to work a few years between high school and college or take some part time classes at a community college before transferring do that.

Just don't make the least financially sound decision and then whine about the debt you knowingly (and often stupidly) signed up for.

And what if you don't drive, can't afford that extra car, the parking fees, insurance, etc? Or the colleges are over an hour away, in good weather? I find your scenario to be rather ignorant. Both my daughters were STEM majors - they didn't have any extra time to work 'fulltime' year round. They were in classes, labs, etc, 5 days a week, sometimes 7 days a week. I get how some less demanding majors have 3 50 minute classes a week for class. Science classes have a lot more time involved.

I think when people say working their way through college, they mean working year-round, not just during Summer break. But yes, either way it’s a LOT harder to accomplish now.

It certainly is - my younger daughter worked in the lab all summer, and was a TA, an LA, and a tutor during the school year. At one time she had 5 jobs at the same time, just to start to make a dent in her school debt, and to have money for other expenses. She worked her butt off, double major, with a minor as well. Plus doing the 5 jobs. I don't know when she even had time to sleep.

 

[saucymb]

18K is very reasonable, but unfortunately I don't think it is reasonable to expect everyone to be able to attend college for 4 years and it only costs them 18K.
My dd is doing the most inexpensive option to go to school for what she wants to pursue. We do not have any schools in commuting distance for her to attend, so we have to include her living expenses in the cost of her college education. 18K wouldn't even cover rent for 4 years.

That 18k quote I gave is to show that it CAN be done economically. Each state is different.

I agree. $18K is very reasonable debt for 4 years of college. That wasn't the issue. The issue is finding tuition at $18K for 4 years. My son is currently in a mid-level public university. His tuition is $5,200 per semester. All of the public universities charge around that much. Certainly it is much cheaper than a state that borders us, but obviously not as cheap as North Carolina. I think it's very unrealistic to think it's easy to get a 4 year degree for that price. Yes, it obviously exists, but not everywhere. To your earlier point, I actually don't think it would have been that doable for either one of my children to graduate from high school, put off college for 2 years and get a job in North Carolina that they could support themselves on with just a high school degree.

NC is very fortunate to have such affordable college options. What I am saying is that given the choice between staggering student loans and making some sacrifices to get a more affordable education, I would choose the latter. And I did move away from home when I was 17. It wasn't easy.

I know where you are coming from but I honestly think it's one of those "looks really good on paper but in practice not so much" things.

But it can work in practice. It's a matter of priorities. Don't want staggering student loans? Move somewhere else. Establish residency.

And how do you propose a 17-19 year old kid right out high school with (most likely) minimal work experience will do this? Pick a state, hop on a bus and hope for the best? High School kids are fighting for minimum wage jobs with people in my age bracket and losing most of the time. I bleed money when I move across town with all the deposits and transfer fees. If I were to move out of state it would set me back quite a bit and I have decent credit, decent savings and a husband with a highly transferable job. So how is a kid who’s feet are barely wet going to do it? Let’s hear your plan. And remember, Mom & Dad can’t help because they can’t afford it.

If their options are STAGGERING student debt and the student wisely decides that is not in his best interest, then the student should make a plan and execute that plan. No, don't "pick a state and hop on a bus". Research. Kids should know early in high school what is affordable and what is not. If mom and dad can't afford to help, the student will be on their own anyway. Make sacrifices.

I am not against student loans. I am against huge loans for the same education you can get for smaller loans. In my own local area, there is a private college that is 26k per year, tuition only. The students majoring in education there that either pay or get loans for $104k are getting the same jobs at the same schools that the students who went to the local university and majored in education for $28k.

 

[wenrob]

That 18k quote I gave is to show that it CAN be done economically. Each state is different.



NC is very fortunate to have such affordable college options. What I am saying is that given the choice between staggering student loans and making some sacrifices to get a more affordable education, I would choose the latter. And I did move away from home when I was 17. It wasn't easy.



But it can work in practice. It's a matter of priorities. Don't want staggering student loans? Move somewhere else. Establish residency.



If their options are STAGGERING student debt and the student wisely decides that is not in his best interest, then the student should make a plan and execute that plan. No, don't "pick a state and hop on a bus". Research. Kids should know early in high school what is affordable and what is not. If mom and dad can't afford to help, the student will be on their own anyway. Make sacrifices.

I am not against student loans. I am against huge loans for the same education you can get for smaller loans. In my own local area, there is a private college that is 26k per year, tuition only. The students majoring in education there that either pay or get loans for $104k are getting the same jobs at the same schools that the students who went to the local university and majored in education for $28k.

So you don’t know how they’ll do it but that’s what they should do. How do they make sacrifices when they have nothing to sacrifice? If you’ve read the thread you’ll see I’m against crazy student loans as well. However, I don’t think arbitrarily throwing out, “make sacrifices” is the solution.

 

[tvguy]

In my state (MA) teachers cannot privately tutor students for money. It's a conflict of interest.

Teachers work almost full time as it is, at least here in MA. End of August to almost the end of June, and there's very little time to take all the Pd credit courses, etc, that they have to take to stay certified. They also bring home tons of work to correct, or stay late at school to correct. The teacher parking lot is still half full at least two hours after school gets out at our local HS. Also, see above about tutoring..

Certainly I can see where tutoring would be a conflict of interest if they were the teacher's normal students, but here teachers can tutor students but they have to be from other schools.
Teachers in the district I live have 8 weeks off from the start of school to the end of their year. They start 3 days before the start of school, and end 2 days after the last day. Some work summer school, at least one of the two sessions for extra money. Every Thursday is a half day (per their union contract) so they can take the classes they need to keep their credential within the school year.
When I was in school seasonal work during the Christmas season at retail stores was popular with my teachers. My senior year of high school I was hired to work security at a department store where two of my teachers worked part time. That was a trip, because half my job was making sure customers didn't steal, and the other half was making sure the employees didn't steal. Yup, I had to keep on eye on 2 of my teachers to make sure they didn't steal!

 

[saucymb]

So you don’t know how they’ll do it but that’s what they should do. How do they make sacrifices when they have nothing to sacrifice? If you’ve read the thread you’ll see I’m against crazy student loans as well. However, I don’t think arbitrarily throwing out, “make sacrifices” is the solution.

Research. Find an affordable option. If it's in state, great. If not, then find out what criteria is needed to be eligible for in-state tuition. Then move. Seriously. College students and armed forces members do it all the time at 18 years old. Find a job. The sacrifice may be living with 3 other roommates. Or not having a car. Or flipping burgers. Or no smart phone. Or ALL of the above. It is doable. I've seen it happen. It really is about priorities.

 

[Hikergirl]

That 18k quote I gave is to show that it CAN be done economically. Each state is different.

I never said it couldn't. What I disagree with is the notion that anyone can just move to a new state out of HS, support themselves for a couple of years to establish residency and then go get their bachelor's degree for 18K.
I know COL is different everywhere but I'm pretty sure supporting yourself on minimum wage doesn't work in NC just like it doesn't work here.

 

[wenrob]

Research. Find an affordable option. If it's in state, great. If not, then find out what criteria is needed to be eligible for in-state tuition. Then move. Seriously. College students and armed forces members do it all the time at 18 years old. Find a job. The sacrifice may be living with 3 other roommates. Or not having a car. Or flipping burgers. Or no smart phone. Or ALL of the above. It is doable. I've seen it happen. It really is about priorities.

Listen, I’m not saying kids shouldn’t work hard and sacrifice for what they really want but I find the advice to move to another state simplistic and a little bit naive. It’s kind of like walking by the homeless guy on the corner and telling him to get a job. Neither is that simple. Most college students that move to another state do it because the have the financial means to do so. Kids in the armed forces move to another state because the military moves them there. There’s no correlation between them and the kid who’s looking for a way to pay for even the cheapest college.

For the record, my daughter earned her Associates at the community college and has transferred to UNLV for her Bachelors. She holds down a full time job and has thus far paid for most of it herself. (she does have a grant from the state) She lives here rent free. She’s also been fortunate enough to have gone to a public high school that taught her a trade so is able to earn more than minimum wage. When she’s not working or in school she’s sleeping. The kid absolutely busts her butt day in and day out. So, yeah, priorities, sacrifice, it works but make no mistake, she’s lucky. She has a skill and she has parents willing to help her out and standing by to catch her if she falls. Not all kids have that. Some don’t even have a fraction of that.

 

[tzolkin]

But $18k is without living expenses. What if you cannot live at home for free. In this area housing costs are high b/c so many parents have $$$ & buy their kids houses or condos. If you go to school full time time, you can’t also work full time. Part jobs rarely pay enough to pay rent, car notes (or the $ for a used car), food, & other living expenses.

The $18k that keeps being mentioned is also with having done two years at community college (possibly for free while in high school). Four years at a NC state university would cost significantly more ($7-9k+ per year).

We are in NC and my daughter received merit scholarships for the full tuition ($7,000) but room and board on campus are over $12,000. She has tried to be frugal and does not have a meal plan this year, but it is still a big expense since it’s not feasible for her to live at home.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

There has to be some middle ground there, though, because we need people in a lot of those "passion" roles. They are necessities for a functioning society. We need teachers and social workers and journalists and med techs and other poorly paid professionals. To dismiss the economic struggle of going into any of those roles as an entitlement mentality and say they should have been lawyers or engineers instead is to ignore the heart of the issue.



That is pretty reasonable. The school I went to would be more than double that; a bachelors worth of credits costs over $60K in tuition and fees alone, more if you're in certain colleges or programs that have add-on fees over and above the base tuition rate. And that's at today's price. As I mentioned before, the per credit hour cost is 17% higher today than it was when I started there in the fall of 2014. There was an 8.5% hike in just one year, between my first and second years there.

And in my state, ignoring the costs of commuting is ignoring a huge part of the budget crunch students face. The cost of the dorm, at almost $10K/year (including meals), sounds high... but if it means the student can live without a car it might actually be cheaper to live on campus. But that doesn't seem to figure into the equation when we talk about this here on the middle-class DIS, I think because the assumption is the kid is going to have a car and the related expenses regardless.



I would argue that it would be just about impossible today, at least in my state. New teachers don't get pensions the way your parents' generation did, for one. They also don't get raises. A friend who started at a local public school in 2010 is still making the same salary she made in year one. And their share of health care costs goes up just about every year. Even with coaching and working summers, I doubt many teachers coming out of school now and stepping into salaries in the low-30K range are going to be able to stash enough in their 401ks to retire at 57 or to buy a vacation home. Especially not if they have even modest student loans to pay off as well.

Yeah, a middle ground is fair.

Fortunately, Missouri has a very sound pension still today. With the same experience as my parents, a pair of teachers retiring at the conclusion of this year would be drawing roughly $110,000 combined in pension benefits. Not wealthy, but given the low cost of living here, not bad either. It's more than DW & I make .

Now, my folks also socked money into IRA's, and they draw a little SSN from their civilian jobs. So, that helps as well.

What would REALLY be hard these days would have been graduating debt free, and for one of them to stay home for several years (as my mom did after I was born & until my sister was 4).

 

[Happyinwonerland]

My oldest is just in the 6th grade. We have college savings plans for all 3 of the boys. I just looked up tuition costs at the nearest 4-year University (45 minutes away). It happens to be where I went to college. If a student started in Fall 2017 and went for 8 semester to get a 4-year degree in ANYTHING, it would cost $28k. Including all fees, excluding books. I don't know, that sounds pretty reasonable to me. That works out to $150 a week - or 15 hours a week at a $10 an hour job. Definitely do-able. If you have to tack on living expenses, obviously it will double or more. But if the kid does the first 2 years at a CC, that $28k drops to just $18k for a bachelors degree. I think that's a bargain. I'm in NC.

I mentioned I went to the same school. My tuition (I graduated in 1999) over 8 semesters was around $12,000. Again, fees included, books excluded. I lived off-campus and had a car. I took out loans after the first year. Big mistake. I didn't know how to handle money. I wasted so much of it! I got the max allowed, and even though I worked, I definitely did not spend my money wisely. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure my kids don't make those same mistakes.

I also am convinced that most 4-year degrees have so many non-essential hours that a 4-year degree could be obtained in 5-6 semesters if you just cut out all of the junk. The colleges of course would not go for it as fewer semesters = less money.

The thing is, nobody ever sits these kids down and explains this. When you are that young and inexperinced, $28k in tuition seems like an impossible mountain to climb on $10/hr. I'm in my 30's now, but I remember as an 18 year old freshman, at orientation we were advised to live on campus even if we were local, and to NOT have jobs. Looking back, I realize they were likely just trying to get me on the hook for more loans, but at the time it felt like I needed to listen to what they said. Nobody in my family went to college, this was a whole new world, so the people running the place must know more thab we did. Thankfully I decided on a fair paying major that got me in and out fairly cheaply and I did work full time through college, but it could have easily swung the other way.

 

[disykat]

I just live in a different, cheaper reality than many here. I made it through school with no car, four girls sharing a cheap 2 bdrm 1 bath place, etc. Yes, I even managed to grocery shop and go to the laundromat on a bus! I expected my kids to do the same. My son that went to a big school in the city used a bus pass bought on a special student discount. My son that went to a rural school had plenty of off campus shared housing options within walking distance to school. (both boys moved off campus into nearby shared housing after freshman year because it was cheaper.)

College is expensive. It's even more expensive for those that won't economize because they can't pay for the whole thing so they might as well just pile up the loans. I really can't understand why some people think that looking for cheaper options to lesson your loan burden isn't possible.

I'm going to round numbers with great license here to make a point so don't nitpick the numbers. My point is doing what you can to keep it down rather than just taking out loans for the price listed on the school website. My kid's state schools listed anticipated cost was about 25K a year including housing. Generally they got by on about 20K a year because they lived lean. If you can work and earn 5K a year, have parents contributing 5K (yes, I realize not all kids have parents than can/will help but I figure most parents can at least give some food money or the kids can live at home or with another family member and if they can't those kids might get grants,) can try to find 5 K of academic scholarships by looking not just at their school but also private scholarships, that leaves about 5K on loans each year - so a best case scenario totals 20K which I think is a doable loan amount. Even if you can't find scholarships and you have to double it, 40K is not so terrible if you plan to live like a student after graduation to kick it down fast for a while. (In my case, we had prepaid tuition points so they didn't have to do loans but they are still living cheaply for a while to jump start savings/investments. One has a great job, but three roommates and the other is at home for a while.) The problem I've seen students have is not working, not economizing, and just taking out loans for all of it thinking that's what you do. They think it's not possible, so they don't try. "I can only make about 4K a year working so why bother." 4K less in loans a year is a big deal!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I just live in a different, cheaper reality than many here. I made it through school with no car, four girls sharing a cheap 2 bdrm 1 bath place, etc. Yes, I even managed to grocery shop and go to the laundromat on a bus! I expected my kids to do the same. My son that went to a big school in the city used a bus pass bought on a special student discount. My son that went to a rural school had plenty of off campus shared housing options within walking distance to school. (both boys moved off campus into nearby shared housing after freshman year because it was cheaper.)

College is expensive. It's even more expensive for those that won't economize because they can't pay for the whole thing so they might as well just pile up the loans. I really can't understand why some people think that looking for cheaper options to lesson your loan burden isn't possible.

I'm going to round numbers with great license here to make a point so don't nitpick the numbers. My point is doing what you can to keep it down rather than just taking out loans for the price listed on the school website. My kid's state schools listed anticipated cost was about 25K a year including housing. Generally they got by on about 20K a year because they lived lean. If you can work and earn 5K a year, have parents contributing 5K (yes, I realize not all kids have parents than can/will help but I figure most parents can at least give some food money or the kids can live at home or with another family member and if they can't those kids might get grants,) can try to find 5 K of academic scholarships by looking not just at their school but also private scholarships, that leaves about 5K on loans each year - so a best case scenario totals 20K which I think is a doable loan amount. Even if you can't find scholarships and you have to double it, 40K is not so terrible if you plan to live like a student after graduation to kick it down fast for a while. (In my case, we had prepaid tuition points so they didn't have to do loans but they are still living cheaply for a while to jump start savings/investments. One has a great job, but three roommates and the other is at home for a while.) The problem I've seen students have is not working, not economizing, and just taking out loans for all of it thinking that's what you do. They think it's not possible, so they don't try. "I can only make about 4K a year working so why bother." 4K less in loans a year is a big deal!

When my cousin graduated, she immediately bought a house. BUT, she also had 4 roommates who paid rent (enough to cover her mortgage & then some). She lived like this for several years despite the fact my aunt & uncle fully funded her college expenses. But, even in her case, economizing paid off. The house appreciated rapidly and she was able to upgrade a couple of times with minimal debt. She retired at 54.

 

[Skippy918]

I love the Early College HS option in NC! I know several kids enrolled in it. It is rigorous. One girl I know who is doing it will take an extra year - so she will graduate with the HS diploma and CC associates degree after the "13th" grade. She said she wasn't sure what she was going to do when she was finished so she wanted to take her time and explore options. I think that's great.

My cousin in is NC and her son was homeschooled for high school and he also took classes at the community college. He graduated with his associates and high school diploma. He started his bachelor’s this fall and is on track to graduate in 2 years, maybe less than that. I think he’s a finance/business major.

I live in tx. The state college tuition is about 10k per year and room & board is another 10k per year.
My kids are still in elementary school and I have no idea how much college will cost in 8 years or so. We do have 529s for the kids.

Does participating in ROTC and then military service still help offset tuition costs? I had some college friends who took that path so they paid nothing. I wasn’t sure if that was still the case.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My cousin in is NC and her son was homeschooled for high school and he also took classes at the community college. He graduated with his associates and high school diploma. He started his bachelor’s this fall and is on track to graduate in 2 years, maybe less than that. I think he’s a finance/business major.

I live in tx. The state college tuition is about 10k per year and room & board is another 10k per year.
My kids are still in elementary school and I have no idea how much college will cost in 8 years or so. We do have 529s for the kids.

Does participating in ROTC and then military service still help offset tuition costs? I had some college friends who took that path so they paid nothing. I wasn’t sure if that was still the case.

A friend in HS and my cousin's husband both did the ROTC thing for free schooling. Oddly enough, both to Notre Dame, and they have the same first name. I took just a semester of ROTC in college, so not enough to receive any help, but I met many who were funding their schooling that way.

 

[disykat]

When my cousin graduated, she immediately bought a house. BUT, she also had 4 roommates who paid rent (enough to cover her mortgage & then some). She lived like this for several years despite the fact my aunt & uncle fully funded her college expenses. But, even in her case, economizing paid off. The house appreciated rapidly and she was able to upgrade a couple of times with minimal debt. She retired at 54.

That is exactly what my son is doing. Right now where we live it is crazy expensive to rent, but home prices are pretty good right now. DS #2 is hoping to do the same so he's home working towards a down payment right now.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That depends, of course, on how far away you live from a 4 year university. Not everyone has that luxury. The closest four year university to where we live (not counting extension campuses and things) is 2 hours away and believe me that is NOT a drive you want to make in the winter. Some people just don't have the option to live at home for free. It's great if you do but it just isn't feasible for a large chunk of the student population.

NYS offers free tuition for families under a certain income level. It does not cover room and board, and other fees which are a large portion of the costs. Most, if not all State U's require a student to live on campus for first year.
My dd will have to live on campus even as a transfer student. You can live off campus after you turn 21, but for most kids that is their Senior year anyway. I'm not sure if that is a rule for all the State schools though.
It helps alot of families, but those room and board charges are going to add up over 4 years.

There are a surprising number of expenses relating to commuting, too, for those who do have the luxury of having good schools nearby. Both of my kids commute in order to save. Here it would cost about $12K for EACH of them per year to live at school (so about $100K over four years!). Each drives a car so, as others have said, there are costs to keep the cars inspected, registered, insured, and running well, gas, and parking fees. Another expense for commuters is food. They take their lunch a fair amount, but there are only so many turkey sandwiches and granola bars you can eat in a week! So those expenses can add up as well. It seems that practically no matter what you do, college is pretty costly. Mine do hold down jobs to help with expenses and incidentals. I think they realize that they'd rather do it this way now, so that when they graduate they can have a little breathing room instead of being saddled with debt from the get go.

People have talked about their histories, and mine is similar to many. First generation college, moved out at 18, rented a room, commuted, worked two jobs, somehow managed to make it to and through school with no help from anyone, etc. I made a lot of costly and dumb mistakes along the way, but hey, I eventually finished. I came out of school with a loan amount which is probably equal to about what the average loan amount is by today's standards. (Later we had more substantial loans for DH when he went to college as an adult.) In my first professional job I made $12/hr that I was thrilled to get, but fortunately for me, salaries increased just as I was hitting my stride. (DH and I laugh that we both chose careers that were considered sort of bottom of the barrel back in our day, but are both now highly sought after. Fortunate to be ahead of the curves there, as well as with college costs.) I wanted my kids to be more prepared for college than I was, and to not have to go through all the difficulties and humiliation that I had to. We are glad to be able to help them as best we can, but we also want them to make good choices and have some skin in the game. I think they've both done that, and I can see they're working really hard, so so far, so good.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I mentioned this book, Debt Free U, earlier in the thread, but in case anyone missed it, I think it's a great read for people who are just beginning to think about college. Even if your goal isn't to be debt free, necessarily, the author is a pretty amazing and smart young man who offers a lot of ideas about how to pay for college and navigate the whole college process. It helped me a lot just to think outside the box.

https://www.amazon.com/Debt-Free-Outstanding-College-Education-Scholarships-ebook/dp/B003XQEVV2

 

[tzolkin]

I remember as an 18 year old freshman, at orientation we were advised to live on campus even if we were local, and to NOT have jobs. Looking back, I realize they were likely just trying to get me on the hook for more loans, but at the time it felt like I needed to listen to what they said.

The school I attended only allowed you to work 10 hours per week at on-campus jobs. I got around that by working 3-4 jobs the entire time I was in school.

Several years later, I was working at the same university (and had student employees). They had reinforced the policy by telling employers that they had to coordinate with other departments if a student had more than one job to ensure that they absolutely did not go over the 10 hours.

According to them it was “impossible” for a student to do school and more than 10 hours of work.

This was a small, prestigious, private liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere. ALL students were required to live on campus and it was a 40+ minute drive to most shopping areas. So, it was very difficult for students to find off campus employment.