Posted on 09/30/2007 3:10:04 PM PDT by seacapn
The near doubling in the cost of a college degree the past decade has produced an explosion in high-priced student loans that could haunt the U.S. economy for years.
While scholarship, grant money and government-backed student loans -- whose interest rates are capped -- have taken up some of the slack, many families and individual students have turned to private loans, which carry fees and interest rates that are often variable and up to 20 percent.
Many in the next generation of workers will be so debt-burdened they will have to delay home purchases, limit vacations, even eat out less to pay loans off on time.
Kristin Cole, 30, who graduated from Michigan State University's law school and lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., owes $150,000 in private and government-backed student loans. Her monthly payment of $660, which consumes a quarter of her take-home pay, is scheduled to jump to $800 in a year or so, confronting her with stark financial choices.
"I could never buy a house. I can't travel; I can't do anything," she said. "I feel like a prisoner."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
The good news is that there is funding for graduate degrees in the physical and biological sciences in the form of teaching and research assistantships. In the dark ages, my wife and I did this. Our daughter is currently working for her Ph.D. in meteorology on a very nice department fellowship. Our son had to finance his own law school education. He worked hard to contain his costs (his total debt is less than $40K compared to Ms. Cole's $130K.) He has been accepted as an Army JAG lawyer, pending the results of the bar exam that he took in July.
“American students and families are going into massive debt, all to support idiotic leftist pseudo-intellectual departments that are dedicated to installing feelings of worthlessness and self-hatred in the non-minority students.
What a deal!!”
After Social Security, Higher Education is the biggest shell game going. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is as overpriced as a college education today.
Have you checked the availability of ROTC scholarships lately? I believe that they are quite competitive these days, more so in some branches than others.
JAG lawyer positions are VERY competitiive. My son just got one. he had multiple interviews. There were LOTS of candidates for few positions.
I did an assistantship for structural engineering. No jobs to be found in my field. I took a job unrelated to my field when I got desperate. That made it even harder to find what I was trained for. Now it seems to me my education was a waste of time.
If the parents and students lobby for taxpayer relief, Sallie Mae won't complain, if their profits continue.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/16/news/companies/pluggedin_mclean_sallie.fortune/index.htm
The financial return on investment on a graduate degree is only part of the value. The thinking and problem solving skills learned are less tangible, but probably more valuable in the long run. In the end, I think education is only wasted if one ceases to learn and grow. Adapting is part of life.
Exactly. What do these universities do with the billions of dollars a year they receive from the taxpayers?
Hm, yeah I suppose. But that doesn’t preclude a military career altogether and in any case, maybe she would do fine at the interviews. I think the point still stands though - I was surprised at some of the perqs that the ossifer side of the house will provide - e.g. skipping the lower ranks altogether and entering service as a captain, for example, stuff like that. I was in a similar situation years ago and I went back in the military and paid off student loans in short order (admittedly not 150 large) but it still hurt. Very easy to spend other peoples money! I’m not “debt is evel” pundit but it’s a matter of living within means. I worked very diligently to pay off my debts and student loans are very specifically exempted from bankruptcy discharge. Congress mandated that because lenders are unwilling to lend without the reasonable expectation of being paid back. That includes taxpayers too, wouldn’t you agree? It is true that college costs are far in excess of what they ought to be - but whattaya expect, the government is paying for a lot of it through - voila - student loans! To paraphrase somebody, if you think College is expensive now, just wait till it’s free.
We agree!
It’s refreshing to hear otherwise far-lefties on some boards go into melt-down mode over government bailouts to the subprime lending meltdown - righteous indignation, even, “Why, I pay my bills, why should the FED bail out their bankster buddies at the expense of....” Curious that they have the remnants or vestigial organ at least of conservativism to some degree.
We’re seriously looking into the “college thing” now that our eldest is in 11th grade. She’s taking 6 college credits now (AP classes) and from what I’ve read the state schools either have to accept them or usually do. Unfortunately, she may attend a college that doesn’t accept them. My husband took a few AP classes in high school and all were accepted by Penn State at the time but I’ve heard it’s more difficult now. I also graduated from Penn State but never took an AP class in high school so until now didn’t know much about them.
My husband had a full scholarship to Penn State and most of the incidental costs were paid for by various other scholarships (Merit, Who’s Who, EE, etc.) He only had to finance his living expenses (room/board) and didn’t have a huge student loan to pay back. I was in a similar situation but had parents who helped and lived at home and worked full time while attending grad school so no huge college loan debt.
I realize it is a completely different scenario today with college costs but still possible. My 4 kids know that we’ll help with college costs but there are limitations. They can’t attend whatever school they choose unless they receive a full academic scholarship to that school, etc.
Anyway, the oldest wants to attend Penn State but that’s probably only because we’re alumni and she’s been there a few times. It’s out of state for us so she’d have to get tons of scholarship money. We’re even looking into the community college here. We paid the fee for the AP classes because it’s hundreds less per class than it would cost if she takes them while in college. And, even if they aren’t accepted for those particular courses, she could still use them as elective credits.
Again, we’re just starting this whole process and learning - this week is the college fair at the high school so I’m sure we’ll learn more. I’m surprised by the attitude of so many parents in this area: no loans, kids can go to any school they choose, they shouldn’t have to work, etc. My kids work. The 16 and 15 year olds have jobs and that’s a rarity in this area.
I still can’t imagine $150,000 in school loans for one person. However, if she borrowed that kind of money then she should have to pay it back all by herself. My nephew used his college loans to keep him in the lifestyle he chose while attending college. That’s his own fault so no sympathy from me, lol.
As long as the taxpayers are willing to pony up more cash, the fraud, waste and abuse of College-Based Welfare for PHD’s is going to continue
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Yep
I have — actually my husband spoke directly to the ROTC officers at a few colleges my nephew was looking at (He himself got his undergrad on a full ROTC scholarship).
His grades are good and he is a talented athelete, so he should be able to secure a scholarship (fingers crossed).
When I got my BSEE there were no jobs to be had (unless, like my girlfriend, you happened to be female with a GPA fully two points below mine in which case you were flown all around the country for interviews). I went back for 2 years for my MSEE/CS and by then the market had changed -- I could pick & choose my employment.
The bottom line is that there is no substitute for careful investigation of the financial details prior to matriculation. A degree from a prestigious college does not guarantee the ability to secure employment sufficient to pay off a boatload of debt. Too many sucker stories are on studenloanjustice.org as it is. We don't need any more. Students need to understand that nobody will care about their well being more than they do.
I don’t doubt that the recruiters told you that. Believe it when you have the signed scholarship agreement. A friend’s son with a very solid GPA in a an engineering program at a very good school is being jerked around about a scholarship that was dangled before the young man and his parents. I have known the young man for several years and he is smart and incredibly hard working. Seems like a no brainer to me.
“her monthly payment of $660, which consumes a quarter of her take-home pay”
For a law school graduate?
She needs to get a better paying job, she does have a law degree
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