Students Protest Student Loans - Rant

[Superman]

What? Wait a minute! Nobody told me there was a rational discussion about a public policy question. You mean....nobody has blown this up yet.? I'm gonna hafta take a serious look at this in the morning.......

[A930Rocket]

If the yearly tuition, room and board costs ~$20,000 each year (a public state school in SC) and the graduating debt load is an average of $20-25K, where is the rest of the money coming from? Private loans, federal loans, mom/dad, or savings?

Our daughter has the grades to go any where next year, but will be attending school in state to save money, since a loss of work and the economy has really hurt us financially the past several years. She will be getting about $7,500 in lottery assistance going to Clemson or the same $7,500 plus another $3,000 going to USC. Shame on us for not saving enough, but the only way I can see her going all four years, is some combiation of loan, summer jobs, mom/dad, and work-study.

When I went to school, I want to say I paid about $500 per semester. It was so cheap, I don't know anyone who had a loan back then.

[petrolhead611]

Here in England with tuition at most universities from this year now costing about $13500/year, it is really only viable/sensible for students to study for a degree leading to a self-employed profession, eg law, medicine, architect, etc. A lot of the worthless degree courses are way undersubscribed from this year, whereas before when fees were way cheaper or before that,free, the nonsense courses flourished.

[Aggie93]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

If the yearly tuition, room and board costs ~$20,000 each year (a public state school in SC) and the graduating debt load is an average of $20-25K, where is the rest of the money coming from? Private loans, federal loans, mom/dad, or savings?

• Fewer than 12% of private college students pay those schools' high sticker prices. Fully 88% of all freshmen at private universities received scholarships to reduce their costs, according to a recent survey by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Private college students receive, on average, $15,530 in scholarships and federal tax benefits, reducing their average net cost to $26,700, the College Board found.

• Fewer than half of all public university students pay the full sticker price to attend. Federal surveys show at least 52% of all students at public four-year universities receive scholarships or grants. Aid, not counting loans or campus jobs, brought the net tuition paid by the average student at a typical public university to about $2,500, the College Board estimates. That brings the total average net cost of a year on campus (including dorm, books, travel and living expenses) to $11,400.


I wonder how much of the student debt problem is from:
Students that shouldn't be going to college.
Students not making rational decisions because they are short sided and can get a loan.
Being sold a bill of goods from the for profit schools.

[asphaltgambler]

I thought sallie-may was the guarantor for student loans just like freddie-mac and fannie-may do the same for conforming mortages? - No?

[Z-man]

To the OP: do you have a website link to an article that details the protest? I'm in school right now (MBA program), and the topic of discussion this week is "Social interest groups" and I think this student protest thing could generate a lot of discussion.

BTW: I was truly blessed by parents who felt it was their duty to pay for my education. I did get some grants and scholarships, so that helped as well. I got a degree in Computer Science, and have been in the IT field since graduating.

Right now, I'm going through an MBA program sponsored by my company, which is paying for 90% of my education. So I am fortunate. Very fortunate.

That said, here are my comments on the topic at hand:
1. Getting a post-high school degree opens many more opportunities to a person. Yes, the job market is harsh right now. But that is all the more reason for kids today should have a diploma! If I'm an employer and have the choice between two candidates, I will likely pick the one with more experience, and often than piece of paper in their hand.

2. Get a degree in something useful. Underwater basket weaving just won't cut it. Liberal arts is too vague. Business management, comp. science, nursing, pre-med...etc. will get you going sooner. Our society is turing into a services related culture -- less and less goods are produced here. So get a degree that will fit into this society.

3. No one is obligated to take on a loan. That is just an option available to students. They can also work and pay their way through school. It may take longer, but they won't have that big loan hanging over their heads when they are done.

-Z-man.

[patssle]

I like all these posts that think you can work your way through college. Just because you could do that 30 years ago doesn't mean you can do it today. Unless you have a full time job or a large amount of scholarships, you will have student loans.

The same people that enjoyed affordable college 30 years ago have turned it into a for-profit enterprise.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

What ever happened to working your way through college???

There's a glut of strippers right now, which has depressed the market.

[Tishabet]

I paid off my student loans... Took me nearly 10 years. I think it was genuinely a good thing.

I double majored in English Literature and Computer Science, my wife went to the same school and double majored in French Literature and Music Composition. She paid off her similarly sized stident loan within months of mine, and last year her bonus was larger than my entire salary... Just saying.

All joking about our liberal arts degrees aside, my wife graduated from college the same year that I did and did what it took to get a job, any job, on the bad economy in which we found ourselves (graduating in '02).

[RWebb]

Z - option 3 does not work well give today's high tuition costs - I agree with the guy who posted that above

but, studies show that students who work some during college actually perform better academically (it drops off above 10 hrs/week); working can help with tuition costs, even tho it cannot entirely solve the problem

[RWebb]

some years ago, the Republicans privatized student loans and Reagan began charging taxes on academic fellowships early in the 1980s

also, student loans are one of the few things that do not go away in bancruptcy

the economy has changed too, in case no one noticed

so, people of a certain age should not think that today's college students have the same situation as before

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Z - option 3 does not work well give today's high tuition costs - I agree with the guy who posted that above

but, studies show that students who work some during college actually perform better academically (it drops off above 10 hrs/week); working can help with tuition costs, even tho it cannot entirely solve the problem

Option 3 is possible, just not very feasible these days. Just like it's not impossible to buy a house without a mortgage.

Hmm - my brother-in-law graduated from undergrad about 6 years ago -- had scholarships and paid the rest on his own by working to pay his tuition.

Now, he is in med school -- you thought undergrads had high loans to pay off? Guess again. (You can't work your way through med school -- that's impossible, BTW)

Look at it this way -- a student loan is an investment in your future. Don't want to pay that price, then there are jobs out there which do not require a college degree. You won't get as high a salary, but you won't have to pay all those student loans off!

-Z

[sammyg2]

I worked to pay for my college when I was young and ended up back in school (at night) many years later, for a total of over a decade.
Ended up getting two degrees.

To the kids who are going after silly degrees anyway, why not get a full time job and take one class at a time at night?
Beats borrowing a sheet-pot-full of $$$$ you can't pay back ......

[RWebb]

I suspect part of the problem is that when some students entered college, they thought they would graduate into a booming economy where jobs were easy to get - 4 years later... ooops!


However, here is a contribution to the stupidity of college students... I was driving along thru a UO student rental are en route to my house (situated safely outside the college riot zone) and saw a pole lamp sticking out of a trash can. I figured - huh, that might just need a new switch to work or something, maybe the cord is bad...

nope - it works just fine and will make a useful addition to my garage:




You could use it inside the house too - works fine, looks ok. Could have been sold or given to Goodwill.

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by RWebb

I suspect part of the problem is that when some students entered college, they thought they would graduate into a booming economy where jobs were easy to get - 4 years later... ooops!


However, here is a contribution to the stupidity of college students... I was driving along thru a UO student rental are en route to my house (situated safely outside the college riot zone) and saw a pole lamp sticking out of a trash can. I figured - huh, that might just need a new switch to work or something, maybe the cord is bad...

nope - it works just fine and will make a useful addition to my garage:

You could use it inside the house too - works fine, looks ok. Could have been sold or given to Goodwill.

You hit the nail on the head. Between the 'disposable society' mentality, and the 'I have to have the latest iPhone/iPad/techno gadget even though my iPhone/iPad/techno gadget still works perfectly fine' mentality, there's a lot of waste out there. (I wonder how many smartphones, tablets, wireless devices you can spot at your local Occupy Wall Street Rally...)

Problem is, these students should have started with a class called "Financial Responsibility 101" But that class has a pre-requisite of "Common Sense 101" which most student's feel is not needed to graduate.

-Z

[RWebb]

yes, and this univ. is renowned for its "green" ethos too - lost on that person

[dienstuhr]

Originally Posted by Z-man

(You can't work your way through med school -- that's impossible, BTW)
-Z

Absolutely correct. That's why many med students get a "starter wife" to support them through med school.

d.

[Superman]

Z-Man's Option #3 is indeed possible. My daughter is doing it. But as mentioned, it does take longer.

[RWebb]

I'm curious -

- sole source of support is the job?

at a state school?

with or w/o 2 yrs at a community college?

what jobs pay enough to do this?

[billybek]

Suggest protesting against student loans by not accepting them.

Didn't read the whole thread, sorry if it is a repeat.