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The truth is that neither high school or college prepares students for what is to come. High schools feel they have succeeded if a large percentage of graduates go to college. There is no counseling on what they would potentially do with that degree. They used to have commercial and shop courses for students who wanted to enter the work force out of high school. I don't believe they do that any more.
The second truth is that colleges could care less what you do with your degree, or what you will do for a living when you graduate. The colleges, like most professions, are there for the people employed there, not the clients/students.
The third truth is there is no reason to go away to college. Much lower cost degrees are available through local public colleges for students who live at home and commute to school rather than live there. With working part time and full time in the summers to pay part or all of the tuition and books expenses, any student can get a bachelor's degree with a minimal student loan balance, probably as much as a new car loan.
Finally, except in tech majors like computer science or engineering, it doesn't matter what your bachelor's degree is in. Most people start at square one on the job. The degree gets you the interview, from there on you are on your own. Most of college coursework is irrelevant and you have to learn the majority of your skills on the job. People who think they are being held back by their degree either have unreasonable expectations, or haven't found their niche in the workplace, which can take years or decades to accomplish.
"They used to have" " shop courses" They STILL do. also Vo-tech schools are still around.
"Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School"
"Mervo has 22 state-approved trades courses for students to enter into, including: Accounting and Finance, Allied Health, Auto Body and Repair, Automotive Technology, Business Management, CADD(Coumputer Aided Drawing and Design), Carpentry, ChildCare, CISCO Networking Academy, Commercial Baking, Cosmetology, Electrical Construction, Food Services, Graphic Arts and Printing, Law and Leadership, Masonry, Plumbing, Project Led The Way (Pre-Engineering), Teacher Academy and Welding."
$37,000 is not a small amount fro someone starting out in life, especially at 7% interest
Agreed.
People need to take a long hard look at their college plans, which may require 2 year of jr. college then transfer, working long hours during the summer....whatever it takes to not get in a big hole financially.
The kids in the biggest trouble are average students from average to upper incomes that don't get scholarships and whose parents make to much to qualify for student aid.
They're unlikely to end up in a tough major (STEM) and make good money so keeping debt wayyyy down is paramount.
$37,000 is not a small amount fro someone starting out in life, especially at 7% interest
The government could fix much of the student loan issue by capping the interest rate low (maybe 3 or 4 percent) and capping the maximum amount at $25,000.
Student loans are a self inflicted wound. It is possible to get thru college without one, but you won't be able to enjoy spring breaks in the Azores, etc. And you will be working part time or more the entire time,
Or stay at home with dad and mom and go to the local community college.
This is a great example of terrible government policies creating a disaster and a pending bubble/market collapse. These things always start with what many interpret as a good or well meaning idea. Like home ownership = good or attending college = good.
The problem is these ideas sound positive up until they are not. For example the government decided they would like to see college attendance across the country rise. So they go to lenders and say you guys provide funds to young kids with no jobs and no income at low interest rates and we will float the loan during their 4 years and guarantee after that they cannot default on the debt through bankruptcy.
This system injects trillions of $ of capital in the form of guaranteed and subsidized loans and anyone and everyone that gets into school. Hence their is a rapid market expansion in college/universities where they have an endless revenue/margin stream that is 100% unchecked and guaranteed through this loan infrastrure. The Unversities tops down from Harvard all the way down to Phoenix/Devry all bloat their budgets and build 100’s of trophy “business school” and other similar buildings. They build $1B football stadiums and pay crazy salaries to bloated staff and faculty. This in an era of technological revolution where students are taking 85% of their classes in their PJs at home watching YouTube like videos on their iPad. We should be taking cost out of education not injecting it in.
Now fast forward 20 years and colleges have gone up by 500%+ in costs where the CPI is up ~150%. The old idiom that you must go to college no longer rings true as the cost for many degrees will not be paid back based upon the current reality of our workforce and wage structure.
So our solution is to bailout student loans for poor choices? Actually if you do this then those college loans no longer become guaranteed and the lenders will have to adjust the APR to account for risk. This mean 24.99% APR with loans being on a credit limit of 20-30k and interest accruing day 1. These loans have no assets to backing up the valuation so the interest rates will have to adjust due to no collateral.
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