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I'm finishing my senior year at a Big 10 School and will be in some severe debt...but I see it as this:
I could have stayed in my hometown where most people have no higher education, are getting let go from their factory jobs, and cook & deal meth on the side.....but I'm better than that. Sure, I'll be paying back my loans for a long, long time but atleast I'm in a career field that I absolutly love.
Because my program is so intense, there is absolutly no room for a job. It's required that I take 19 credits a semester and also work in the field (without pay) to gain experience...I'm also required to do extra volunteer hours within the community.
I agree, it's sad that I pay $5,000/semester in tuition...plus rent, utilities,books, supplies, groceries, ect. but I feel that my only two options are to go home a be a dead beat like everyone else, OR go into severe debt to make something of myself.....
the choice was quite easy
You gotta do what you gotta do. I am not in any debt yet but I probably will be by the time I graduate from grad school. People always tell me "dont get all those student loans" I just reply that I am going to do what I have to do in order to assure myself a good education. And I pointed out their new car. I said you took out a $35,000 loan to get that car and it has depreciated as soon as you drove it off the lot so what's wrong with me investing in my education to help me get a good job. I will be earning a good salary while their precious car will be worth less than half of what they paid for it.
going to a 4 year university is just plain expensive. no matter where you go. sure, in state tuition is a good deal but it has also gone up in the recent years. it's especially worse for those who are paying out of state tuition because it's at least twice as much.
debt is commonplace, but i agree with the poster that said it's economics. it really is. i mean, yes, there are those who are still able to not be in debt, but it seems the majority of people are just not able to do that.
with the economy the way it is, if and when it recovers, it won't be the same. it won't bounce back to how it was before because of the cost. everything is just becoming more expensive.
i can understand the person who is in debt, but why chose prison over school? it's seems a strange thing to wish for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John1960
Hernan Castillo is treading water, trying to survive under the weight of $5,200 in credit card debt and $30,000 in student loans. He’s making payments on time, but the Orange County, Calif., resident sees little hope for getting out of the warehouse job he holds and landing a job as an accountant, the field in which he earned his degree.
College grad: ‘I wish I’d gone to prison instead’ - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com (http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/05/college-debt-so-crushing-grad-says-i-wish-id-gone-to-prison-instead.html#posts - broken link)
A couple of points for the "I don't have a choice" crowd...
1) Wiki Maslow's hierachy of needs. It doesn't matter how much you think you love the field you're eternally endebting yourself for, if you end up taking home the same or less money than a high school graduate working at Taco Bell takes home after you drop that monthly student loan check in the mail, whatever non-economic valuation you get out of "doing what you love" gets eroded by the fact that you cannot acquire the material lifestyle you thought the job would allow you. You cannot fulfill your self-actualization needs when your basic and security needs are not met. "Starving artists" are seldom happy and in aggregate give up the full-time pursuit of their passion for what satisfies the hierarchy of needs in its proper order.
2) You don't have to accept the hard place between two non-choices. Lobby for the overhaul of the student loan racket. Call your congressperson and demand they make student loans dischargeable during bankruptcy. Challenge the status quo of overinflated college tuition by voting with your feet and finding ways of cutting the cost of your education (attending in-state and only doing 2 years at the 4-year institution).
3) Stop treating a college degree like it's the holy grail. It's a high school diploma. Treating it as such would reduce your impulses towards going in the red for the rest of your productive life before you even start. Stop being optimism-biased and make a conservative estimation of what kind of compensation you're likely to attain and in what timeline. Stop this "um, but I'm gonna make a really good salary when I get out" uninformed non-sense. Back engineer your career outlook. Look at the median compensation, not the top earners (statistical outliers) that colleges ask to come talk to you during freshman orientation. Approach debt with a defensive posture, not this willy nilly high school spiked fruit punch mantra of "just sign the promissory note and the rest will take care of itself".
4) For the love of God, don't pay for grad school.
3) Stop treating a college degree like it's the holy grail. It's a high school diploma. Treating it as such would reduce your impulses towards going in the red for the rest of your productive life before you even start. Stop being optimism-biased and make a conservative estimation of what kind of compensation you're likely to attain and in what timeline. Stop this "um, but I'm gonna make a really good salary when I get out" uninformed non-sense. Back engineer your career outlook. Look at the median compensation, not the top earners (statistical outliers) that colleges ask to come talk to you during freshman orientation. Approach debt with a defensive posture, not this willy nilly high school spiked fruit punch mantra of "just sign the promissory note and the rest will take care of itself".
4) For the love of God, don't pay for grad school.
I can't deny you bring up some good points here. Once upon a time I held some misguided aspirations of going to law school, but I slowly came to the realization that the average starting salary for attorney's in my state didn't even begin to justify the completely astronomical price of a degree from one of my state's 3 schools with a law program. No way was I going put myself on the hook for upwards of 6 figures for anything less than a top 10 school. The business case just wasn't there.
3) Stop treating a college degree like it's the holy grail. It's a high school diploma. Treating it as such would reduce your impulses towards going in the red for the rest of your productive life before you even start.
I mostly agree with you except for the HS diploma comparison, providing I'm reading you correctly. Off the mark, imo.
It's very difficult to "work your way through college" these days. In fact, it always was. My father did it, going to 'night school' and it took 12 years post high school. Actually, the last 1 1/2 yrs he had enough money saved that he went full time. This was during the depression. Many people don't have the "sticktoitiveness", or frankly, the good fortune to be able to do that. Dad was lucky he worked a straight daylight shift, so he could take night classes. Some jobs jerk you around, especially in retail these days, so you never know when you're going to be working, so you don't know when you can sign up for a class. Some bosses don't make it easy, either. Most "working one's way through" consists more of scholarships won, GI bill, employer paid tution, etc.
Nowadays, the University of Colorado costs ~$5000/yr in tuition (in state), another $1000/month in R & B (approx), and 'night school' offerings are very slim. The financial aid system for need-based aid is very much biased in favor of loans and jobs, not grants.
It's hard but it's not impossible, my undergrad in Electrical Eng. at UT took me 6 years, between university and community college courses to lower the costs. I used to work 9PM to 6AM ( the crappiest schedule you can find Wednesday through Sunday but it worked for school ), and then went to school during the day. It was a rough 6 years, but very well worthed. Now I'm in grad school getting a Ph.D. degree with a fellowship, so I'm going to school full time and doing research that I enjoy.
I think going to college, even if it's just for a bachelors is the best investment that you can do. Invest in yourself.
4) For the love of God, don't pay for grad school.
This might be a little hard for people trying to get their masters, usually Ph.D. students don't have to pay but for their very first semester and then it's on their advisor to pick up the tab. Masters students get the short end and it's much harder to find funding sources.
Hernan Castillo is treading water, trying to survive under the weight of $5,200 in credit card debt and $30,000 in student loans. He’s making payments on time, but the Orange County, Calif., resident sees little hope for getting out of the warehouse job he holds and landing a job as an accountant, the field in which he earned his degree.
College grad: ‘I wish I’d gone to prison instead’ - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com (http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/05/college-debt-so-crushing-grad-says-i-wish-id-gone-to-prison-instead.html#posts - broken link)
I would suggest to Hernan that he join the service. It can help with finances as well as open doors.
This might be a little hard for people trying to get their masters, usually Ph.D. students don't have to pay but for their very first semester and then it's on their advisor to pick up the tab. Masters students get the short end and it's much harder to find funding sources.
Professional schools don't give a lot of scholarships, either, e.g. Physical Therapy, Medicine, Dentistry, etc. They have to do it on student loans.
Sound like some of these posters on here are trying to talk people out of getting an education
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