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I think you missed my point and are taking some of your personal employment issues out on me. My point was that a college degree isn't measured in the first five years after you get it. The data doesn't lie. Sure it's a tougher time now for a college grad but assuming you picked an employable major and didn't spend more than needed on college it's still an easy decision over a lifetime.
BTW I'm only seven years out of college so technically I'm Gen Y as well.
But the interest collected is measured within the first 5 years and for most of us it will be for the next 15-30.
I'm not taking it out on you, I'm simply pointing out your chart is irrelevant when applying the data soley to genY when it clearly states 25+.
And truthfully it really is measured from the first day you start college. It concerns concepts like future and present value. The salary you miss out on while attending college, the amount you pay in tuition, room and board, laptops, books, pens etc., interest collected on private and unsubsidized loans while in school, and all the interest collected over the repayment term. Combine that with a low salary and any other financial hardships one will encounter during say those first 5 years and the total expense of college education can trump any benefits from even a 6 figure job for 10 years post entry level. Not saying your income would be better without the degree, but NET earnings over lifetime may not be much better than a highschool diploma can earn you.
A lot of the hardships and financial destruction could be avoided if simply recent grads could attain employement that is sufficient to cover COL and loan payments. I think that's what most of us want right now, but can barely get gigs flipping burgers. We used to joke in highschool that by the time we graduate college you'll need a degree to work at McD's. Who would've thought that would be true?
Oh lol I guess to be on the original subject, I don't live on the street but i have had to sleep in my truck a few times when I didn't have anywhere else to go.
oldearth, what did you major in? If you are from MIT, there should be jobs in your field that you have a good chance of getting into. The name still commands respect.
Mechanical engineering. But I've applied to loads of jobs, gotten a fair number of interviews, and ultimately get passed over for people with more relevant job experience under their belts. It's a war out there.
The name commands respect, but--honestly--unless you're working on electronics or computers it just doesn't mean as much as people think. Students grumble about this at on-campus job fairs, because 90% of the companies there are looking for course 6 majors (electrical engineer/computer science).
But the interest collected is measured within the first 5 years and for most of us it will be for the next 15-30.
I'm not taking it out on you, I'm simply pointing out your chart is irrelevant when applying the data soley to genY when it clearly states 25+.
And truthfully it really is measured from the first day you start college. It concerns concepts like future and present value. The salary you miss out on while attending college, the amount you pay in tuition, room and board, laptops, books, pens etc., interest collected on private and unsubsidized loans while in school, and all the interest collected over the repayment term. Combine that with a low salary and any other financial hardships one will encounter during say those first 5 years and the total expense of college education can trump any benefits from even a 6 figure job for 10 years post entry level. Not saying your income would be better without the degree, but NET earnings over lifetime may not be much better than a highschool diploma can earn you.
A lot of the hardships and financial destruction could be avoided if simply recent grads could attain employement that is sufficient to cover COL and loan payments. I think that's what most of us want right now, but can barely get gigs flipping burgers. We used to joke in highschool that by the time we graduate college you'll need a degree to work at McD's. Who would've thought that would be true?
It depends what you spend and what your degree in. You can't just go and have 50k in loans for an arts degree.
If you are making 100k ten years after college you are having NO issues. Either that or you spent a crazy amount of money on college.
Mechanical engineering. But I've applied to loads of jobs, gotten a fair number of interviews, and ultimately get passed over for people with more relevant job experience under their belts. It's a war out there.
The name commands respect, but--honestly--unless you're working on electronics or computers it just doesn't mean as much as people think. Students grumble about this at on-campus job fairs, because 90% of the companies there are looking for course 6 majors (electrical engineer/computer science).
Your fellow MIT grads with the same degree don't have jobs either?
Ah true abou your major. I thought I selected well but aparently IT and computer stuff really ist that good of a selection anymore. Unlike oldearth up there, I didn't go to MIT.
its rather comical, the companies id like to be employed by are looking at his school for cadidates, I'm sure with whatever major he acquired the companies he would look to be hired by are scouting at my alma matter.
Hey oldearth, wanna trade places?
Ah and about making 6 figures after ten years... yeah maybe no one should be complaining if that is the case, but hardly anyone is hitting those levels from what it seems which makes the whole future value of education a little bit less, well a lotta bit less.
I can't vouch for the reliability of this source, but I've read the data in other places. Likewise the master promisary notes we all signed and the entrance and exit counseling we had when acceping loans backs up the statements about default.
Interest payments alone at sub $30,000 salaries eat like half your income, and that's before income tax.
I don't hink its 100% a problem with not finding jobs, its a problem that deals with finding a job that offers relevant experience, that pays sufficiently to cover those student loan payments while allowing you to move out of your parents basement before your 30th birthday, and maybe has some medical benefits.
I think I speak for most of generation Y when I say, its a pretty sour punch in the face when a boomer or gen x tells us this whole process shouldn't be made out to be so difficult while they boast about their ability to find lucrative work straight out of college 11+ years ago and haven't had a problem finding work since, and they had debt too... $6000, pft
That's all while sitting in the reception area of a prospective company waiting for an interview for an "entry level" job that requires 3-5 years progressive experience, and carnal knowledge of such a vast array of technologies that it would have taken a decade of progressive experience to learn. Oh and a month of unemployment later you find out find joe gen x, or bessy boomer got the job over you. Go figure.
Oh and sallie mae's collection agency called 8 times again today, I'm glad they're a patient bunch.
How much in loans are some of you racking up and for what degree?
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