Letter: Join the movement against student debt

UMass Daily Collegian ^ | 10/17/17 | Staff

[lizma2]

Instead of common core have schools require a personal finance course during students junior year which includes calculating the interest of student loans.

[CodeToad]

“You can get a GREAT education at almost any state school everywhere in the country “

Tuition, books, and fees are about $18,000 a year in Colorado. That’s $72,000 for a degree, minimum.

LONG GONE are the days of cheap universities. Taxpayers pay for the State schools and then they rape the students for more.

[freedumb2003]

>>That’s $72,000 for a degree, minimum.<<

A lot, but not unmanageable. When I left college it was with $10K ($30K by today’s standards).

There are countless scholarships and grants for students willing to hustle a bit.

But we are attacking the wrong problem. There should be a PURE 2-track post-HS education system: one for college/university degree-granting, the other for technical, practical schools.

I assure you electricians, plumbers, welders, car mechanics, carpenters, framers, roofers, etc. etc. etc. are extremely useful professions that will be needed for the next 3 or 4 generations or longer — things with tangible pieces parts.

NOW is the time to do something all right: Time to get brats like this letter writer out of college and into trade tech as a NATIONAL POLICY.

[al_c]

Maybe they should all take on the way College of the Ozarks does it ... make students work for their education.

“C of O is unique among higher education institutions in America: no tuition is charged, all students work on campus, debt is openly discouraged, and no federal, state or private loans are made.”
- Jerry C. Davis, President

[21twelve]

I think the main reason tuition is so high is because of the “easy” loans from the Government (easy to get anyway - hard to pay back). Makes everybody think they can afford college. So of course supply and demand kicks in. Same goes for housing (”everybody should be able to get a loan to buy a home”). Same goes for insurance (”everybody should be able to get good medical treatment”). Same goes for vehicles (”everybody should (must?) drive a super-safe low-emission vehicle”).

[usconservative]

um... here’s a crazy idea... choose a university you can afford?

Here's an even crazier idea:

Work for a few years between High School and College and SAVE YOUR MONEY like I did so you can actually PAY for a chunk of college first before going!

And gee, how about having a JOB while going to college too?! That's what I did -- graduated with less than $10k in debt and paid that off in two years after graduating.

Imagine the possibilities!

[zerosix]

.....or they could obtain a degree like I did - WORK!

Yes, my family didn’t have the funds to send their two kids to college, so I simply did the obviously unthinkable thing with today’s youth!

I got a job after high school, worked and attended night school and summer classes.

Some times I even dropped out to save for more classes the next semester, season or even more, if the classes I needed were only available for a specific semester.

Guess what, I even graduated on the Dean’s List but wasn’t able to walk because I didn’t have that time off from work!

That diploma was even sweeter because I EARNED every bit of it!!!

[Simon Green]

Or, crazy as it sounds, one could repay one’s debts.

[JimRed]

So, student, get a job and pay your own way. Then there’s no debt. It may take you seven years instead of four to get that degree ending in the word “studies” that does not suit you for any gainful employment, but when you don’t get that sought-after gubmint job you’ll at least have some work history to fall back on!

[xrmusn]

How unique!
WORK

I did 8 in US NAVY and all I asked for was ‘help’ buying a house some 13 years later, when I could ‘afford’ it and take advantage of a loan without all the hassles and hidden fees.

I guess I was stupid because I (and my wife) spent the next 25 or so years paying off the LOAN.

Then my youngest daughter came to US and ‘demanded’ us to PAY for (not finance or help) her upcoming college.

I told her I would be glad to see she got a FREE COLLEGE(at least down payment/money wise) and if she kept her grades up I was sure one of the Academys would have wanted her.

She said ‘I don’t want to go in the Army or Navy’.

We compromised.

She went to JC for two years, transferred to and worked her way (with SOME assistance from us) through Virginia Tech and completed...Even found her a husband that was willing to ‘support’ her to which she very easily adjusted.

‘WE’ weren’t in poverty or even lower income BUT were comfortable and she did better than that.

Isn’t that ‘our’ job- To help make sure our kids are doing a little better than we did?

[Chuckster]

Fifty years ago my Dad gave me some advice that would apply: “Don’t borrow money!”

[CodeToad]

“There are countless scholarships and grants for students willing to hustle a bit.”

Not for white students, especially males. The vast majority are for “minorities”, those without an income at all, and those without “wealthy” parents.

I totally agree college is overused and most students should not go that route. Most degrees are worthless. They provide little knowledge and no skills.