And I'm not sure why people think it's ok that education costs these absurd amounts of money when it should and could be free for everyone.
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America’s Student-Loan Burden Is Getting Severe
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Me and my wife both worked while she did her college amd just paid on it.
we had a kid and house as well. we made.....50k a year together at that time.
Ive talked to my son about college and told him Im not paying any of his so he needs to pick a college that is under 20k a year and gets his degree.
he wants to be in Forensics so if he actually gets a job than he should be fine. and of course try and get grants etc.
Define free?? Free means higher taxes
which is not free.
Healthcare should be free. College should be AFFORDABLE.
we cant have everything be free. healthcare is much more important
I'd like to see a break down of what degrees ppl are getting that can and can't pay off the loans.
Have a few cousins who got degrees in a field where it's damn near impossible to find a job yet racked up alot of debt.
Also people need to learn more about finances in general.
Have a few cousins who got degrees in a field where it's damn near impossible to find a job yet racked up alot of debt.
Also people need to learn more about finances in general.
Not necessarily. I mean the costs have spiraled out of control because universities know they can charge that much. If they couldn't, it wouldn't be anywhere as expensive. Apart from that there is plenty of money floating around that is wasted for a bloated military and other things. Just put that into education.
I dont see a way to have it free. healthcare needs to be free first and than maybe look at college.
but college prices need to be reigned in greatly. I do agree on that
Other people have different situations than that though? I graduated HS when I was 17, went to college immediately. Was taking hella credit hours, only had time to work minimum wage on saturday and sunday, I lived on campus because I didnt have a car and couldnt commute. I was making like 8k$ a year. Graduated in crazy debt, none of the jobs in my field, if you could even get one, paid enough money so I ended up getting a factory job. It wasnt possible for me to pay off my college every year, and I was a teenager who made poor decisions in taking out student loans.
No other lender would ever give even a $10k loan to a teenager with no credit history, who has never been employed full-time and has no demonstrable ability to pay it back, let alone the astronomical sums people are lending to teenagers for college. Step outside your box and consider people who have had different life experiences than you.
For some people, it's either pay down the student loan debt or pay rent this month. Some people can't do both and aren't in a dual income household.
Why give the majority of the country a good wage while you can sell them money and have them pay you tons more over their life time?
I've been paying on my student loans for about 8 years now and the balance has barely moved due to the interest rates, and this is through the government. At this rate I just accept that I'll never pay this shit off.
I don't see where any "free tuition" program doesn't start and nearly end with the community college system.
The bigger question than college prices to me is how to accommodate living expenses. Do we encourage part time attendance or will it just be even more normal for 18-22 year olds to live at home?
I guess I just don't see a situation where kids aren't still taking out loans still to go to the "nice" school and stay in the "nice dorms". We're a society of "keeping up with the Jones's" in an awful way.
How the hell does Europe handle this?
I had to refinance a few years ago. Went from $600 a month to under $200, but increased the term by years and years and years.
I think the tradeoff was worth it for me though. $200 is MUCH more manageable than $600. My wife and I bought a house recently. That would have been more risky with that fat student loan payment every month.
I have a step daughter and my wife is pregnant. Terrified for what college holds for them when they get there.
I think the tradeoff was worth it for me though. $200 is MUCH more manageable than $600. My wife and I bought a house recently. That would have been more risky with that fat student loan payment every month.
I have a step daughter and my wife is pregnant. Terrified for what college holds for them when they get there.
tbh I don't really care about some potential scenario 25 years in the future. Who knows if I'll even be alive that long?
Worst case scenario the IRS garnishes wages that I don't really have lol.
thats kind of sad and kind of your fault.
not saying college is burdening but find a way to better yourself and get a better job
The thing about college is that knowledge is power, but it's like, B-tier power at best.
Controlling the means of production? That's A-tier, possibly S-tier power right there depending on the system of governance you have.
This is the truth everyone should know in their teens. Seriously.
your post was saying 25 years from now lol.
is their room to grow in your job?
"My limited life experience is different from a proven trend so I refuse to understand it."
Coming of age in the Bush years definitely helped hammer that point home but it's only in the age of Kushner and Trump Jr that it really, properly has been carried home to me
It would be nice if the politicians worked to:
- Extend public service forgiveness.
- Cap interest and reimburse anything over a point.
- Cap interest rates.
The debt is largely manageable, however it's predatory and uncapped nature is setting people up to fail.
- Extend public service forgiveness.
- Cap interest and reimburse anything over a point.
- Cap interest rates.
The debt is largely manageable, however it's predatory and uncapped nature is setting people up to fail.
No, but I don't really care about growth. I don't really care about owning a home, a new car, or a bunch of other expensive possessions.
As long as I can afford a shared apartment and rice and beans I'm fine, which my current job permits me to quite easily.
There is zero reason why education after high school, whether it be university or vocational/trade school, should not be paid for via taxes. Higher education should just be considered education, like all other publicly-funded education.
Quit this Disney-World-level amenities bullshit and ballooning spending on things that have nothing to do with students' learning. Crack down on corruption within school administrations. Actually listen to students and teachers. Look to Finland and emulate their education system.
If you are not the best, you should look to emulate the best. We are nowhere near the best. So, we should be looking to Finland for the answers.
Education, like Healthcare, in the U.S. has become a corrupt, short-term-profit-driven business. These 2 industries should be primarily for the public good, and therefore should primarily be public industries.
Quit this Disney-World-level amenities bullshit and ballooning spending on things that have nothing to do with students' learning. Crack down on corruption within school administrations. Actually listen to students and teachers. Look to Finland and emulate their education system.
If you are not the best, you should look to emulate the best. We are nowhere near the best. So, we should be looking to Finland for the answers.
Education, like Healthcare, in the U.S. has become a corrupt, short-term-profit-driven business. These 2 industries should be primarily for the public good, and therefore should primarily be public industries.
Education easily pays for itself in the long run. A highly skilled and educated population will lead to a productive workforce overall leading to higher tax revenue, better health outcomes, etc.
Free education is 100% worth it, no matter how you cut it.
[insert my anecdotal experience and apply it to everyone]
This is a systematic issue. I believe our youth and their parents are being manipulated.
Everyone can agree that college costs need to be dropped immensely. It being free would be best. This obviously can be arranged, same with healthcare.
My wife is now in this predicament and it fucking depresses her. She has a $40K loan and just got a letter this week saying the ED has recommended that the treasury withhold her federal taxes until the loan is paid. Problem is: she doesn't work and hasn't for ten years. This is due to a number of factors, namely our family growing but my income not. So we are trying to decide the best course of action here but a $400 a month payment plan is not going to cut it.
A lot of what others have said here resonates with us on a personal level especially as it pertains to our approach to higher education with our kids. Very stressful stuff.
Also, please don;t get dragged into a back and forth with someone who's idea of a compelling argument is 'my wife and i did it, why can't you?'.
A lot of what others have said here resonates with us on a personal level especially as it pertains to our approach to higher education with our kids. Very stressful stuff.
Also, please don;t get dragged into a back and forth with someone who's idea of a compelling argument is 'my wife and i did it, why can't you?'.
They should both be paid for in full via taxes. Implementing cost controls and biasing these "industries" towards being what they are: public goods are much more important. However, I would take highly-subsidized, as well.
I am an American, first off. What has consistently astounded me about other Americans is how bad they are at being competitive (i.e., their cognitive dissonance when it comes to performing well in all areas of life). I mean, we front about how good we are at things, and then consistently bury our heads in the sand when the results come back, and we aren't even in the TOP 20!!! It's almost like saying we are good is actually better than being good at things.
It's why the "American Dream" / social mobility is a farce.
It's why we are so terribly inefficient at producing good results for low prices, especially with regards to service industries like education and healthcare.
It's why we are mentally and physically sick, are grinded into the ground at our jobs without equitable compensation (yet have the constant fear of termination looming over us), have unhealthy social lives (i.e., no social lives), are eternally indebted, etc.
But let's pretend we are good at stuff so that we retain the status quo and continue to empty our collective pockets to fill the coffers of a handful of rich Americans.
It's why the "American Dream" / social mobility is a farce.
It's why we are so terribly inefficient at producing good results for low prices, especially with regards to service industries like education and healthcare.
It's why we are mentally and physically sick, are grinded into the ground at our jobs without equitable compensation (yet have the constant fear of termination looming over us), have unhealthy social lives (i.e., no social lives), are eternally indebted, etc.
But let's pretend we are good at stuff so that we retain the status quo and continue to empty our collective pockets to fill the coffers of a handful of rich Americans.
Unless I win the lottery or something mine will never be paid off... tbh if I reach a point where I can't work and make a substantial income I'll probably just need to die quickly
~$1200/month for me as I took over paying for parent plus loans. Though I do make 6 figures so that obviously helps. Still can't do much of anything though beyond pay the rent, food, car note, and weed.
I would be an instant good ol american consumer though if that money was freed up every month. Until then, I'm not even thinking about kids or owning a house or really doing anything with my money in terms of helping the economy outside of the essentials.
Damn, can't even support the state with my love of green due to our outlandish laws on recreational weed. Money is being left on the table for no reason.
This is about to be me. It took me too long to find a co-op for my degree, so now my grace period has ended on my loans (private and federal) since I've been unenrolled for too long, so now the payments are starting to kick in. In total, I owe around 60k across both loans (which I'm surprised is better than what some other people here are dealing with), and I'll owe around $645 each month for the next 10 years. However, after literally 8 months of doing nothing but staying at home with my parents, looking and applying for internships and entry level positions, I finally managed to get one close enough to my university, so I then had to find a nearby apartment, and my dad had to scramble out to find me a car (luckily, he works in the auto industry and has really good connections). So what I'm dealing with is $800 for the apartment per month (this rent accounts for other expenses such as water, electricity, and such), $645 for loans all on top of food and gas and other expenses all on around $2400 per month, and luckily my dad was generous to foot the bill for the car loan and the insurance while I'm still on co-op, which will go to the end of next spring. But in the meantime, I'm gonna need to come up with $2000 to pay back the loan, which I can hopefully manage to do by next summer.
However, right out of the starting gate, it's going to be EXTREMELY tight as I have no money at all, so my parents have had to foot the bill for the first month in the apartment thanks to their tax refund just now coming in (they usually get a pretty meaty refund thanks to farm business stuff) that I'll also need to pay back over time. But after that, I don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do. I was considering applying for one of those income-based repayment plans at least for my federal loan, but after reading some of the possible dangers that come with those in this thread, I'm now not so sure. By the start of next month, I'll only have been working 1 week, so I don't think my paycheck would have come in, even though I'll have around $390 due for my private loans on September 2 (my federal ones, which account for the rest of the bill, are due in the middle of the month). In addition to that, there's a possibility that my apartment will bill again for another $800 at the start of the month as well (since the starting amount would have just been for August). This doesn't even take into account the amount for food, gas, phone payments, and whatnot (luckily, a few of my college buddies have offered to pitch in for food just to help me get through those first 2 difficult weeks). What I'm trying to do is get a credit card to at least allow me to postpone some my expenses, but I don't know if it'll arrive in time.
So overall, I'm in an extremely difficult spot. I'm now regretting not getting at least a part-time job sooner so I could at least save up a bit beforehand, but there's not much I can do about it at this stage. I'm moving back up at the end of next week, so I've got about a week and a half to make this happen.
1) Look into income-based repayment immediately. Your situation is perfect for it.
2) Why didn't you continue living with your parents? Seems like a pretty clear solution to the problem unless that's not an option.
Particularly when you actually do need the "after" part to an ever-increasing degree.
I would add on why push the narrative you need 4+ years? There should be paths for a streamlined education.
I'm guessing it's because college is an order of magnitude more expensive when you include student room and board. In theory, PhD holders are going to be paid quite a bit more than a K-12 teacher but I understand that is generally offset by adjuncts and 200+ person lecture halls.
Free community college is probably the way to go that is the most palatable for everyone although access will be an issue. Free "Gen Ed" courses would go a long way to helping the problem and just having people pay for the specialty courses.
That's a great point.
Free technical colleges and vocation training programs would be fantastic as well.
All of my friends who went straight to trade school or became barbers/hair stylists have made more money in the last 10 years than all of my college friends.
Every job i've had that required a college degree put me through a 2 month training class before i could start. I haven't practiced macro econ since my final project.
If all student loans were tied strictly to room and board costs we wouldn't be where we are now.