Posted on 03/17/2012 8:57:01 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Saddled with college debt By Melissa M. Horton, Published: March 16
“You can go to any college you want.”
“You won’t have to pay for college.”
“You’ll have lots of scholarships and financial aid.”
These are just a few of the things my parents said throughout my childhood. I am a second-generation U.S.-born Latina. Growing up in the suburbs of Fort Worth, I was a straight-A student in Advanced Placement classes, with many civic activities on my resume.
At 17, I never could have dreamed that my parents’ promises were lies.
A decade-plus later, I, like many millennials, have more than $100,000 in student loan debt, most of which can be directly attributed to my parents’ unfortunate placement smack in the middle of the middle class and the fact that our family was uneducated about financing higher education.
My parents — a nurse and a police officer — were the first in their families to attend college, though Dad dropped out and joined the Marine Corps during Vietnam. Both baby boomers who attended state universities, they were ill-prepared for their two public-school-educated daughters to attend private universities that left us drowning in debt.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Being a Cal-state grad - always thought the kid would go that route. 2 years of JC, then we had enough saved for 2 years of state college level tuition. Well - the kid surprised us and got a National Merit Scholarship. He is going to the University of Oklahoma...where two years of California tuition stretches to 4 years.
The money he is being educated on was put away by my wife and I during the late 90’s/early 2000’s during the dot-com boom. We hadn’t been able to contribute to the fund actively for quite awhile. ‘
Moral of story - he is going to get through school without owing anyone any money, and we are only out of pocket the transportation too/from OU. If he needs to go longer...he gets a job!
Many of these kids need to stay out of universities and go to trade
schools or tech schools!! Our universities are nothing more than
Institutions of propaganda!!!!
No scholarships for my boy, actually I’m just happy he’s in his third year and hasn’t quit like many of his friends. Most kids don’t realize how important that degree really is in life.
Certainly they can provide a liberal litmus test for all college student loans to be forgiven in total...
1. Must have voted for Dems every election cycle for min. ten years
2. Yearly contributions made to the DNC
3. Given ‘charity ‘ to Planned ParentHood
4. Joined or supported NEA or similar UNION groups
5. Assisted community efforts to aid poor women of minority or illegal status
6. Volunteer time to serve on election campaigns of Democrat politicians and office holders.
Do these and all college related debts aew wiped clean.
“Informed consent is what is needed, not forgiveness or the ability to default on what is a personal choice. No one forced me to take that loan, just as no one forced this young woman and her parents.”
No one is contesting that. The problem is by making it impossible to discharge extensive education debt, the economy is denied the consumptive benefit that it would receive if said students were spending their money on consumer goods. Which is precisely what some of us argued back in 05 when Dubya signed off on this nonsense.
I had no illusions. My family was uneducated and made it clear that they might feed me two years after high school graduation but that I shouldn’t expect anything more. I paid as I went. I have little respect for overprivileged hothouse flowers who believe that others should pay their expenses.
Very good point. Our son's guidance counselors pushed ivy league schools and expensive private schools during all their parent information sessions. They encouraged people to apply to unaffordable schools and told us that there was lots of scholarship and financial aid money out there. They were completely wrong. Our son is an excellent student, but there was very little offered anywhere because he was just a white boy with parents who had saved some money and still had an income. He is at Penn State, and we're paying for it all. His education is excellent, and we hope that if things go reasonably well, we can get him through his bachelor's without debt. His brother is two years behind him, and although he's going to apply to a more expensive private school, he expects he will probably stay in state and join his brother. PSU is hardly inexpensive, but it's far less than most of the private schools being pushed by our guidance department. When families take on too much debt, the guidance department doesn't feel the pain, but they sure look good when they can say that the school has sent kids to prestigious universities.
No. These "students" took on the debt, now they pay it off (where the hell do you think that "debt" goes on a Federally backed student loan if individuals can simply take a bankruptcy? US!!!). It will suck, they won't drive beamers or have huge mcmansions, they will simply not have their full pay for a decade or more until they fulfill their obligation. It is not my or anyone else's fault they took the loans.
What, they don't like a circumstance they created by free will so *poof*, they are forgiven? Screw that noise. The "impact" on the economy in reality will be a correction for poor planning on individual's decisions.
I say for every student defaulting on their loans, the schools they attended ALSO share in part of relieving the debt obligation as the schools should have vetted better themselves instead of running a mill.
That's right. The "ten year" plan is a gamble. You are paying back in progressive (future dollars) dollars estimated across those years. You seriously think you should get a loan today and pay back "today's" amount ten years into the future? What would be the purpose of the loaning party? Take it in the shorts and at a loss?
If you are shocked by this, I can only imagine your chagrin at your mortgage agreement...
That money was already spent in the economy through the tuition and living costs of the students.
The bank or government, whoever holds the note, depends on those loans begin repaid. They need that repayment for their own business costs and to have money to invest in other businesses.
It is time for students and parents to make carefully considered decisions about higher education and the return they can expect on their investment. Students cannot keep going into massive debt for degrees that will not lead to lucrative careers or jobs.
The bank or government has made their investment in the form of the loan, they should be payed back. The students and parents took the risk, they have to deal with the failure if the student’s degree does not provide enough for them to pay it back.
Again, if the full impact of these loans is understood before they are taken out, it will hopefully cause the parents and students to rethink the value of taking the loan to make an investment with little or no return.
If we tell kids like this young woman that she and her parents can take out enormous loans for her to attend a small, expensive college to get a degree that will not afford her the ability to pay it back, that we as taxpayers will absorb the loss of her default, because “everyone should go to the college of their choice, without regard to cost”, then kids and parents will continue to take out loans they cannot repay without hesitation or guilt or a sense of responsibility.
Buyer beware.
Look at what you are agreeing to before you sign on the dotted line. Know what ALL the costs and consequences are before you shackle yourself to debt.
There’s a sucker born every minute and wolves looking to devour that sucker the minute he’s born. Don’t be a sucker.
I was shocked because I did not understand how the interest was compounded.
My only real experience was with my car loan; I borrowed $6,000 at 4.79% for five years. At the end of the five years, the interest amounts to about $600.00, or about 10% of what I borrowed. Seems reasonable.
I am not complaining, hope you don’t think I was. I made the mistake of not fully knowing what I was doing. When I did, you can believe I told my daughter that doing that for three more years was out of the question. She has since returned home and is attending school in state where we can pay as she goes.
I don’t begrudge the bank the interest. I know that’s how the system works. I just didn’t know the full scope of what I was getting into. My mistake I know and I will be paying it off as quickly as possible.
All I meant was that people need to know everything, and they need to EDUCATE themselves. That’s all. Know what you are doing and don’t assume that these loans are cheap sources of education funding.
Believe me, I already know about my mortgage which was paid off several years ago after thirty years. We paid over $125,000 over that time for a house we bought for $35,900, which is about what it is worth now, lol.
The mortgage is a little different. Even though we paid so much, I realize that we would have paid much more in rent over the years and we own our home. In the end, we have a tangible asset and a place to live even if we hit some hard financial times.
With some education, it is a gamble since not all degrees are an assurance of the “big bucks” in one’s career.
The bottom line is that a 4-year university degree is not necessary for most people. K-12 can and should be tweaked to include more vocational paths, and 1 and 2 year colleges can train people inexepensively. This article merely exemplifies the point - she worked her buttocks off in school and with 8 jobs, still has $100,000 in debt, and works in the public sector. Doing what, I don’t know, but I am sure she could have learned most of what she needs to do her job either on the job or in vocational school.
Mid seventies sounds about right. Adjusted for inflation of course. Getting back that $1,500 loan would be nice...but it would cover one mortgage payment today.
“No. These “students” took on the debt, now they pay it off (where the hell do you think that “debt” goes on a Federally backed student loan if individuals can simply take a bankruptcy? US!!!)”
Then perhaps Dubya should have pursued a policy of eliminating Federally backed college loans. You and I both know why that wasn’t done though it’s impolite to mention.
“What, they don’t like a circumstance they created by free will so *poof*, they are forgiven?”
First only liberals talk about forgiveness of loans. I and others on FR back in 05 urged that the policy of bankruptcy for those UNABLE to pay back down college loans be maintained (which btw is NOT a free & clear method). The big gov GOP schmucks however had other plans & set up a nice protection racket for the loan industry.
“I say for every student defaulting on their loans, the schools they attended ALSO share in part of relieving the debt obligation”
Excellent idea.
I don’t think Vo-tech schools teach law.
“That money was already spent in the economy through the tuition and living costs of the students.”
Some of these loans will have a lifespan of upwards of 30 years. A tad longer than the usual college stay. Again the impact on the economy is a negative. Those in their 20’s - 40’s tend to be the biggest spenders FYI.
“The bank or government, whoever holds the note, depends on those loans begin repaid. They need that repayment for their own business costs and to have money to invest in other businesses.”
Not really. Dubya hooked up the loan industry big time by instituting non-repudiation for educational loans. The banks who hold those notes can give them out without a care in the world precisely because the big government GOP idiots made it impossible for them to be disposed of in bankruptcy. This is harmful to the economy because if a student is directing most if not all of their disposable income to cover interest payments on a loan, consumables take a dive.
A perfectly valid point.
But, about this "lie" the parents told this kid. It's probably more of misled. Folks from that generation still believe college guarantees better jobs. They also believe network news tells the truth. The world has changed and they failed to recognize it.
People who borrow money need to understand they have to pay it back.
If this young woman doesn’t understand that, I don’t see how she’s smart enough to go to college.
The only other alternative excuse would be that she’s corrupt - and felt she could borrow the money and skip out on paying it back.
There are some acceptable reasons why people get into this kind of mess - but the excuse, ‘Mommy and Daddy’ should have told me - isn’t one of them. We are talking ‘college’ right? She’s not 13 or 14 years old, right?
Besides, she’s now learned something important - that good judgement often comes from bad judgement. She’ll be more careful next time. It’s how we all learn.
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