Student loan article - wow.

**Ceashels** · 06-02-2010, 08:09 AM

placing-the-blame-as-students-are-buried-in-debt: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Today, however, Ms. Munna, a 26-year-old graduate of New York University, has nearly $100,000 in student loan debt from her four years in college, and affording the full monthly payments would be a struggle. For much of the time since her 2005 graduation, she's been enrolled in night school, which allows her to defer loan payments.

(a lot more article in between)

She recently received a raise and now makes $22 an hour working for a photographer. It's the highest salary she's earned since graduating with an interdisciplinary degree in religious and women's studies. After taxes, she takes home about $2,300 a month. Rent runs $750, and the full monthly payments on her student loans would be about $700 if they weren't being deferred, which would not leave a lot left over.

Some of the article wanted to put blame on the mother and the University. I don't think assigning blame really helps the situation, it isn't so much who is at fault as to live and learn. Learn from someone else or learn on your own.

I also can't imagine what type of high paying job one would get with a degree in religious and woman's studies.

Any thoughts on this?

**thesightofoneself** · 06-02-2010, 08:32 AM

i think she should pay it, now be nice, its my opinion

**nodmicks** · 06-02-2010, 08:39 AM

We just had a financial planning for college meeting with a lady from Great Lakes Eductation. She told us kids now were required to take an online class and test to prove they understood they would be taking on debt and paying it back. I thought that was a terrific idea!

I'd say do like my brother and his wife did while paying back over 175K in student loans. Live in a dive with three roommates, a crappy car, several jobs and no furniture long enough to pay it off! They are really set now because they did that. Actually they stayed with the roommates and all until they saved up a huge down payment on their first house after the debt was gone

Smart people!

I can't imaging what a high paying job would be with that degree either!

**Greebo** · 06-02-2010, 08:49 AM

Reasons not to get a student loan:

- Most student loans are a very very special kind of debt that cannot be bankrupted.
- The completion rate of college degrees is about 50% - and if you don't finish school, you can't bankrupt the debt
- The idea that "getting the degree faster on debt is a good idea cause you'll get ahead income wise" is a lie (see signature)
- Working your way through school will look better on a resume to prospective employers, as it will show your work ethic and outline your leadership potential
- DEBT IS DUMB

**nodmicks** · 06-02-2010, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by Greebo

Reasons not to get a student loan:

- Most student loans are a very very special kind of debt that cannot be bankrupted.
- The completion rate of college degrees is about 50% - and if you don't finish school, you can't bankrupt the debt
- The idea that "getting the degree faster on debt is a good idea cause you'll get ahead income wise" is a lie (see signature)
- Working your way through school will look better on a resume to prospective employers, as it will show your work ethic and outline your leadership potential
- DEBT IS DUMB

Wow I had no idea the completion rate of a degree was only 50%! I take it that is for traditional college and not tech programs~ or is it for all????

After having that meeting at school and seeing how many sources (some small~ some big) there are for free $ if one just gets off their butt and applies for everything you can I was amazed more people don't take the time to do it. She told us about one kid who got over 30 small scholarships because so many people do not take the time to apply for the 250- 1000 prizes because it isn't enough.Huh????

**Greebo** · 06-02-2010, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by nodmicks

Wow I had no idea the completion rate of a degree was only 50%! I take it that is for traditional college and not tech programs~ or is it for all????

Bound: Understanding the Decrease in College Completion Rates and the Increased Time to the Baccalaureate Degree
45% completion rate for Bachelors degrees in 2007 according to that reference.

After having that meeting at school and seeing how many sources (some small~ some big) there are for free $ if one just gets off their butt and applies for everything you can I was amazed more people don't take the time to do it. She told us about one kid who got over 30 small scholarships because so many people do not take the time to apply for the 250- 1000 prizes because it isn't enough.Huh????

Oh yeah - we hear about that on DR all the time - HS students who make getting small scholarships their full time job their senior year and who end up getting free educations on $50-$100 scholarships times a few hundred.

**imagine** · 06-02-2010, 09:01 AM

Student loan debt scares me maybe because I have a son who will graduate form high school in 5 years. The next one is 4 years after that ( planned that way so we might not have two in college at the same time or if we do only for a year or so)

Student loans also scare me because we (hubby and I) basically didn't have to deal with them even though we went to a private college.

Hubby has started to prepare the kids for at least starting out at the local University and living at home. Not exactly our ideal but it might be the best plan financially. Have you seen how high even state University tuition are now?

My dad drilled into me that you go to college with a job/career in mind and get the degree needed for that job. You don't go to college and get a degree that you are not sure what job/career you will be doing with it. We are starting to drill this into our kids now.

**nodmicks** · 06-02-2010, 09:26 AM

Interesting Greebo! That will be ds's job next year as a senior!

Imagine nothing wrong with local university

and yes they are all expensive. The lady we met with told us for what ds is interested in we could save a fortune by him taking his first two years at tech and then transferring to the university 3 hours away. Those people are a wealth of information!

We will have two in college at the same time. We have told the kids we will help as we can but we can not and will not even if we can provide a full free ride as we don't feel it is in their best interest. I fully believe kids take their education more seriously when it is some of their $ on the line.

**mommynurse** · 06-02-2010, 10:02 AM

DD#1 is finishing her jr year of high school and plans to apply only to local colleges so that she can live at home. She'll continue to work at her job that will provide some tuition reimbursement. I suppose (now that I've read this thread) her extra job this summer will be applying for lots of small scholarships! Her friends tell her that she's going to be "missing out on the college experience". I graduated with LOTS of student loan debt and didn't even enjoy the "college experience" after the first semester! Thank goodness I have such a level-headed child. DD#2 isn't like her sister.

As for the woman in the article, suck it up! You accrued the debt, now pay it off. Of course I practically cringed every month for 10 years while I wrote those checks...

**thesightofoneself** · 06-02-2010, 11:36 AM

i did two years. scholarships and cash. i have no debt from school. debt,yes. from school, nope. i'm thankfull for having thought it out

**thesightofoneself** · 06-02-2010, 11:46 AM

community college people. and do your homework to trasfer credits to university

**savvy_sniper** · 06-02-2010, 11:51 AM

I have a friend whose daughter has one more year to graduate. She has HUGE student loan debt, lives high on the hog during the school year (away from home), and REALLY high on the hog during the summer. She nor her parents think it is necessary for her to work AT ALL during the school year or the summer.

She is going to be in for a rude shock when she graduates. I must say her parents have encouraged her in the this direction. Dad (my friend) says the student loans will be her problem.

On the other hand, my niece works part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer. She is paying her own way through college and has NO debt.

**dcompton** · 06-02-2010, 11:59 AM

Her take home is $2300. After rent and loan payment she would have $850 a month. That is "hardly anything left"? For a single person? If she can't make that work, she needs to take Budget 101 - and learn to love quiet evenings at home. I know that food, utilities, car, etc aren't cheap, but that should be a workable amount. Unless, of course, she also has a lot of CC debt to deal with.

**Telephus44** · 06-02-2010, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by nodmicks

After having that meeting at school and seeing how many sources (some small~ some big) there are for free $ if one just gets off their butt and applies for everything you can I was amazed more people don't take the time to do it. She told us about one kid who got over 30 small scholarships because so many people do not take the time to apply for the 250- 1000 prizes because it isn't enough.Huh????

If you're on financial aid, scholarships don't help. If I was going to get $10,000 in aid, but I have a $1,000 scholarship, I only get $9,000 in aid. So for a lot of people, taking the time to apply for 250-1000 prizes would be a waste of time - you're better off getting a minimum wage job, at least that won't count against you.

Also, as some who went to a private 4 year college and graduated with student loan debt, it's not the end of the world. And it's not necessarily a bad thing. Every employer I've had recognizes the college name on my degree and while I haven't gotten every job i've applied for, I've also never been unemployed for more than 6 months (and the 6 months stint I wasn't looking for 5 of those).

I like to think of it similar to a car - yes, you can go without a car and use public transit (sometimes). Yes, you can collect cans by the side of the road and buy a $500 beater. Yes, you can borrow money and buy a decent used car. Yes, you can borrow money and buy a new car. Yes, you can borrow money and buy a Ferrari. Borrowing isn't inherently "wrong" or "dumb," but you need to look at the long term consequences.

I graduated with $17,625 in student loans. In the 8 years I took to pay them off, I paid about $4000 interest. Figure something for the tax break I got, total cost around $21,000. In my last position, I made an extra $5000-$15000 over my fellow co-workers who didn't have degrees. Currently, I make about $10,000 more than my co-workers that don't have degrees. Was it worth the $21,000? Maybe if I had worked my way through college and taken 6 years to get a degree with no debt, I'd have made $60,000 less in wages.

Would it be worth it if I had to take $100,000 in student loans? No.

I'm not saying that college and student loan debt is always worth it. A lot of situations are very job and degree specific. Probably most people would be better off going to a community college and transferring. But here's the thing - we are all individuals, not statistics. There's no one right way for everyone.

An education is an investment in your future. But, like with all investing, you need to understand what you're investing in. You need to know the kind of job you can get with a degree. You need to have a goal in mind that you're investing for.

**Greebo** · 06-02-2010, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by Telephus44

If you're on financial aid, scholarships don't help. If I was going to get $10,000 in aid, but I have a $1,000 scholarship, I only get $9,000 in aid. So for a lot of people, taking the time to apply for 250-1000 prizes would be a waste of time - you're better off getting a minimum wage job, at least that won't count against you.

Relevance? We're talking student loans, not financial aid.