Do all of those things before going to a "school".
“Stupid is supposed to hurt.” Lurker’s Granddad.
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I know the feeling. My Masters Degree in Medieval Plumbing has yet to pay off.
Some can barely pay the interest on their loans. Our colleges and universities have become institutions of indoctrination and indentured servitude.
What’s the first thing a graduate with a B.A. in Ethnic Studies says their first day on the job?
“Would you like to super size that order?”
College students need to do their own due diligence. But a good part of the blame must be assigned to their lying advisors.
Consider an 18-year-old college kid. He likes movies. But more than that. He has an interest in how movies reflect society, and they shape society. So he meets with an advisor in the film department. It’s that advisor’s job to get students to take film classes. So he’ll flat-out lie to the kid. He’ll tell the kid about all the “opportunities” available to a person with a degree in film.
Next thing you know, the kid has a worthless degree, and is deeply in debt.
Is there a solution? Yes. Make colleges co-sign loans. Of course, that will never happen.
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The federal government. All that is needed to get a good paying, secure job is liberal political connections. No other qualifications necessary.
Any useless degrees, especially master’s degrees are Financially Hobbling for Life.
They should be labeled as IUD’s, aka Instant Unemployment Degrees!
What a racket. This needs to end.
I remember from back in the day it was revealed that SMU’s art school had endowments greater than all the rest combined.
I’m cynical enough to wonder about how much of the arts actually needs anything beyond what some community college can provide for a relative pittance.
“Financially Hobbled for Life,” AKA Slavery.
Old aphorism:”Never blame the booster for what the sucker does”
If you are so damn dumb as to sign up for these academic rip offs you get what you deserve.
“Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000.”
Here’s another plan:
1) At age 18 go to work for a strong and popular fast food organization such as McDonalds, ChickfilA, Panara Bread, or In and Out. Show up for work on time, perform well and in 6 months ask to go into the management training program.
2) As a trainee, live below your means, work hard, out perform your peers. Within 2 years you’ll be managing a store for a franchisee or the parent corporation.
3) Continue to save your money. Apply to buy a franchise. When offered one, do your homework, study the community and the location. Assess the potential for long term growth.
4) Assuming your due diligence checks out, pay cash for the franchise fee and borrow the money for the assets. Work your butt off for 3-5 years and pay off the debt while growing the business. Ask to buy another franchise.
5) Rinse and repeat. Continue living below your means and accumulating productive assets.
Over your working career you will earn money and accumulate more wealth than 99% of Columbia film graduates. The money you borrow, to buy physical assets (building, land, equipment) will produce real value, whereas for most the master’s degree from Columbia will produce nothing of value.
One of the wealthiest people I know, who happens to be an African American, went to work for McDonalds in high school at age 16. Today he owns 5 McDonalds franchises at age 55, has a wonderful family, and did it by having goals and working hard to achieve them. He does not have an Ivy League degree, nor did he incur debt from earning one. He is also better educated, and has more common sense, than most of the Ivy League grads I know.
Yes, one can still be successful in America, no matter the color of your skin, and without a college degree.
By giving them a “Diploma” in nothing important they think they now have a brain as the Scarecrow did.
Make the university liable for unpaid student loans that were used at their institution.
An MBA from a high profile business college can pay off in different ways. If you are attending an in class school the contacts you make in an MBA program can be useful later on in your career. Professors encourage this form of networking.
It's something called delayed gratification.
Those who borrowed, lived high on the hog, and struggled to pay off the debt afterward get no sympathy from me.
As I told my children: Going into debt is like taking the canoe out with the tide and coming back against it.
It would be much cheaper to get a degree overseas. Many European colleges will let you finish in 3 years too.