My Mom is still dealing with student loans at 63, because she didn't graduate from college until she was 50.
I don't think education is ever wasted persay, but at some point you have to question the financial investment. It doesn't make sense to borrow unless you can reasonably expect some financial reward for your investment. Graduating at 50, you clearly have to ask yourself whether you're going to break even on the investment.
Yes, that is what I was going to point out, as well.
Lots of people started going back to school to get their degrees, or advanced degrees in their 40's or later. That would explain why so many older people still have student loan debt.
True,
but you'd think that in their 40s people would have enough financial experience to project 5,10,20 years down the road to imagine how that debt would affect them in the future. Clearly, these folks didn't have a clue.
How in the world can you call Sallie Mae a ponzu scheme? no one forced you to take out the loans, nor were the terms of the loan hidden from you. Perhaps you should blame yourself for not clearly reading all the documents that YOU signed!
If you were talking about adults taking out loans, I'd agree. But the PP probably took out those loans at a very young age (technically an adult, but lacking in adult experience), and I'm firmly convinced that 18, 19, 20 year olds really don't grasp the choice they're making.
Interesting article...But at least some of them sound like they're trying to use scare tactics. The Westchester County one with the 2 kids who go to very expensive colleges...That's totally a choice that they made. Obviously, the kids could have gone to a MUCH less expensive undergrad school. And, very likely, if they have any equity in their home at all - being in Westchester, they could likely sell their home and pay it off easily and move to a less expensive location.
Just saying these people in particular have a ton of options if they didn't want the debt...We could all choose to get into a ton of debt if we wanted to do so.
I have no idea where Westchester County is, so that particular detail washed right over my head.
I totally agree that the kids could have -- should have -- chosen a less expensive school. Most people have "a ton of options" if they don't want to go into debt.
What? You mean actually think about what that debt would look like later?
I honestly think a lot of people DON'T think about it at all, they just keep racking it up thinking "that's just what people do."
I think that's it in a nutshell.
I tell my students all the time to not borrow any more than they absolutely have to, and to realize that the college experience isn't worth 15-20 years of financial struggle. Yes, you need an education but it doesn't have to be at your "dream" school. Parents borrowing on their houses or retirement accounts is a stupid idea too...the kids aren't going to want to support mom and dad when house equity or retirement accounts haven't recovered.
In the last year or so several of my students have expressed a wish to go into social work...and they want to attend private colleges paid for by student loans. They haven't been real happy when I've shown them the real life figures. You want to be a social worker fine...you better start at a community college and live at home unless your parents have PLENTY of money.
I preach that same line to my students, and I find that most of them are woefully uninformed about loans.
One always stands out in my mind as the poster child for bad financial mistakes: R was determined that she would attend the same private, other-side-of-the-country college that her parents had attended. It's a big school, well-respected; I don't have any trouble understanding why she wanted to attend! But with a houseful of younger kids (she's the oldest of five girls), a dad with a moderate salary and a stay-at-home-mom, her parents were able to contribute essentially nothing financially. She got some small scholarship money but ended up borrowing almost 100% of the cost. She was one of my favorite students, and we talked a good bit about this. She simply didn't believe the debt would be any big deal at all. She was also convinced that she'd meet a guy in college (because her mom did), and they'd pay off her debt together. Today she's an elementary teacher living with her parents, working a second job during the school year and a summer job . . . and she's still barely able to make her payments. This will be her future for the foreseeable future. We still talk, and she is
very unhappy with her situation.
The irony: We live in the state with the lowest college tuition in the USA. She could've been just as employable with a degree from one of our state schools, and although she might've ended up borrowing
something, it wouldn't have been this massive amount.
(He hears the loan debt speeches from me all the time but this drove home the point)
i think the professor in the article summed it up best, people expect that the loans will be paid by getting paid a salary that matches their loans, not being realistic about how little you could be paid and then taking loans based on that. i don't think most of these people made logical decisions and at least an article like this may save others from making foolish decisions.
