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I would not consider my comment to be propagating the extreme of the extreme. I would consider the extreme being those who have stopped paying their loans altogether. At least he has been trying, right? And last I heard, default rates are increasing at alarming levels.
His UG was in a foreign language, and his MS was in aviation human factors. He is a pilot. He did not attend an Ivy League, he attended Arizona State University. He paid for flight school, is BA and his MS with student loans. The school had a program that fed its students into an airline, so he had better reason than most students to believe that he would be able to make a livable wage upon graduation. He was offered a position. Unfortunately, mid-education, the airlines stopped hiring pilots at livable wages. Many entered the airlines at $23,000 per year and hundreds of thousands in debt. He found a job paying better than that, but not enough to repay his debt. He was also abandoned by his parents as a child and did not have the opportunity of the kind of parental guidance you probably enjoyed. He was trying to make a better life for himself rather than ending up on the street.
Stupid or not, why did the system allow this to happen... and not just to him, but to millions of others?
You and many others can continue in your opinions, and that is your prerogative, but I'm telling you - if you have shackled the tax-paying, wage-earning middle class, you're not going to see real improvement in the economy.
Thanks for your empathy. I am guessing you majored in something business-related??
The system didn't allow this, your friend did. This is NOT a typical situation. Sorry, I don't have empathy. I put myself through college, paid every DIME either through scholarships I earned or loans. I had my student loans paid off 3 1/2 years after graduating and I would have NEVER taken on that kind of debt. I did not have any "parental guidance" going through college--I did it all on my own. He has to do what grown ups do and find a better job or a second job, make some extra money, pay off his debt and stop making excuses. IT's NOT happening to "Milllions". The average student loan debt is $27,000...a FAR cry from the $200,000 he took out. He shouldn't have gone back to Grad school if he couldn't afford his lifestyle and why did he need to go to grad school to be a pilot??? Did he get a teaching degree to back up his foreign language degree? Did he look into being an interpreter--they make a boatload of money for new grads..in the $50,000 range.
Hahahaha yes, I never expected any kind of humanistic empathy from the business/math types.
Glad not to disappoint.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AshleyAllen
I have to say that I am appalled at the lack of empathy I see in my fellow human beings.
I can't honestly say your dissaproval of my lack of empathy for another guy's stupid choices is going to make me lose any sleep. I made rational choices and kept my debt low by going to reasonably priced schools (which is why I get my back up about some elite school attendees constantly harping on how we have to 'study under the best professors or your college experience won't be worth as much'). Your friend had the same opportunities as the average student, but he chose...poorly.
This should be a wakeup call to how expensive college is. It is just about impossible for a working stiff to graduate college debt free without scholarships.
I am with him on moving to Alaska, working hard and having an adventure and while rapidly paying off the student loans. But I think he had a book in mind by the time he went to graduate school.
The reality is that he could have just taken out $10,000 or so in student loans, worked a part time job, and lived in a shared house with other college students for $500 a month. He could have lived decently, had some money to have fun with, and enjoyed himself while a grad student if he took out a modest student loan.
$10,000 is very little in the grand scheme of things and not worth living in a crappy van for 2 years while going to graduate school over.
Good story, but many graduate programs will not let you work part time or side jobs at all if you earn a stipend and free tuition--so the idea that you can somehow "work your way" through school simply doesn't apply for many fields of study in graduate school. Many students who get extremely low stipends to the tune of $15-18k per year to study things like science will be basically forced to take out loans in order to make ends meet (rent, food, health, car).
You can find more stories like this, where people live debt free because they choose not to own a house, live inside of a tree, and live off the land. What's the point? Some people just like to take things to the extreme. If you were at a school in say a city like Boston, there's no way you could pull this off. Parking is impossible, and you'd have a hard time studying at night in a van when it gets below zero at night for many months on end.
I have, however, volunteered like this guy did for many medical experiments that pay for your time when money gets tight in grad school. MRI and brain studies always seem to pay great and they're so easy.
The real question is, why does it take homelessness and poverty just to get an education in America that leaves you without crushing levels of debt? Go to almost any other advanced country, they don't crush their youth with loans for an education.
Last edited by fibonacci; 01-01-2014 at 03:13 PM..
Good story, but many graduate programs will not let you work part time or side jobs at all if you earn a stipend and free tuition--so the idea that you can somehow "work your way" through school simply doesn't apply for many fields of study in graduate school. Many students who get extremely low stipends to the tune of $15-18k per year to study things like science will be basically forced to take out loans in order to make ends meet (rent, food, health, car).
You can find more stories like this, where people live debt free because they choose not to own a house, live inside of a tree, and live off the land. What's the point? Some people just like to take things to the extreme. If you were at a school in say a city like Boston, there's no way you could pull this off. Parking is impossible, and you'd have a hard time studying at night in a van when it gets below zero at night for many months on end.
I have, however, volunteered like this guy did for many medical experiments that pay for your time when money gets tight in grad school. MRI and brain studies always seem to pay great and they're so easy.
The real question is, why does it take homelessness and poverty just to get an education in America that leaves you without crushing levels of debt? Go to almost any other advanced country, they don't crush their youth with loans for an education.
But only their top, best, brightest get to go to college.....
Most people in the US that go to college graduate with little to no debt. There is a relative handful of people that go overboard and have unrealistic expectations of what they will make out of college that stupidly take out excessive loans.
But only their top, best, brightest get to go to college.....
Most people in the US that go to college graduate with little to no debt. There is a relative handful of people that go overboard and have unrealistic expectations of what they will make out of college that stupidly take out excessive loans.
While I agree that most people don't go overboard and have unrealistic expectations and excessive loans, I beg to differ that most people in the US graduate with little to no debt. The average working stiff cannot afford to go to college without taking out loans. Most people have a pretty sizeable debt, but not usually in the six figures.
While I agree that most people don't go overboard and have unrealistic expectations and excessive loans, I beg to differ that most people in the US graduate with little to no debt. The average working stiff cannot afford to go to college without taking out loans. Most people have a pretty sizeable debt, but not usually in the six figures.
Relative to starting salary-no, it's not a lot. Relative to the actual cost of a degree, it's minimal. Relative to lifetime earning differential for having a degree vs not having a degree it's a pittance. Average debt is $27,000...it's a car payment....it's not much.
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