Functional illiteracy in America

PCXV

PCXV

Well-Known Member
see4 said:
When did you graduate?
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2012. I applied for some jobs over the summer with no luck so I took a year and paid out of pocket to obtain an Office Professional certificate from the county community college. At the end of the year my wife finished her Master's in Education and we moved to an area that had a lot more opportunity in comparison. I didn't qualify for more loans and couldn't afford to pay my bills without working full time. The entry level jobs I was/am looking at only pay $13/hour most of the time, but even they want 1-2 years experience most nearly all of the time. Of course, I still apply(ied) for everything related to my education. I haven't been lucky enough to get a callback on the few that require no experience. With a bit more experience the pay gets better for paralegal work. I just haven't figured out how I will pay for an internship program and work for free and still pay my bills. In the meantime I've been searching for and pursuing other career opportunities, with nothing great so far but lots of stuff out there to try. In the last year I've been working on launching a company/product on the side.
 
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PCXV

PCXV

Well-Known Member
twostrokenut said:
that was the thinking in mandating the low interest loans right?
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That helps but even that low percentage on sizeable debts can be unaffordable with low earnings. It is interesting the min. Payment under an income-based repayment plan doesn't even cover the interest. How do they reason that?
 
Fogdog

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
PCXV said:
2012. I applied for some jobs over the summer with no luck so I took a year and paid out of pocket to obtain an Office Professional certificate from the county community college. At the end of the year my wife finished her Master's in Education and we moved to an area that had a lot more opportunity in comparison. I didn't qualify for more loans and couldn't afford to pay my bills without working full time. The entry level jobs I was/am looking at only pay $13/hour most of the time, but even they want 1-2 years experience most nearly all of the time. Of course, I still apply(ied) to everything. I haven't been lucky enough to get a callback on the few that require no experience. With a bit more experience the pay gets better for paralegal work. I just haven't figured out how I will pay for an internship program and work for free and still pay my bills. In the meantime I've been searching for and pursuing other career opportunities, with nothing great so far but lots of stuff out there to try. In the last year I've been working on launching a company/product on the side.
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Yeah, your story isn't uncommon in your graduation class. You graduated in the teeth of a terrible recession. This is why I think we should end tuition and give qualifying students tuitoin free college but also go back and erase college debt for your group of grads. I'm not trying to be fair, I just think it's a way to mitigate the damage done by the recession and spur the country back into good economic growth.
 
see4

see4

Well-Known Member
twostrokenut said:
why avoid that question? what's the collateral for college loans? war?
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That's not what you asked. You asked me a completely different question. You asked what the collateral for national debt is. And I answered you. War.

The collateral for college loan is primarily the idea that you can't simply erase it away and secondarily that the borrower will get a good paying job and begin to pay back the loan. Remember, the national average salary of non college grad is $17,000 a year less than a college grad.
 
see4

see4

Well-Known Member
PCXV said:
That's awesome. I've applied for dozens of paralegal/legal assistant positions, a few court clerk openings, some non-profit organizations, and lots of random jobs that specify a poli sci degree and haven't even gotten a call back/interview from anything that offered decent pay or growth opportunities. I'm thinking it is my lack of experience.
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You'll get something soon man. Keep attacking it. Maybe consider padding your resume a bit? Get a friend to say you worked with them?
 
PCXV

PCXV

Well-Known Member
Fogdog said:
Yeah, your story isn't uncommon in your graduation class. You graduated in the teeth of a terrible recession. This is why I think we should end tuition and give qualifying students tuitoin free college but also go back and erase college debt for your group of grads. I'm not trying to be fair, I just think it's a way to mitigate the damage done by the recession and spur the country back into good economic growth.
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I'm biased but that argument isn't totally unreasonable.
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
see4 said:
I think the point of his request was to see if you could actual substantiate your claim... i suspect he's already done the leg work behind the scene, just wants you to stand by what you say.

wouldn't it be satisfying to substantiate your claim? I know i love to do that.
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I have told him the info 3 different times now including this thread. He just says I am lying. Which is rediculous.

And he is the one who keeps bringing it up. He is so desperate he repeats things hoping people will believe him because he keeps saying it. You know like a wise ass 5th grader.

No point to commenting with him at all anymore. He is just sad and angry and kind of shallow.
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Heil Tweetler said:
Dreadfully delusional lout, you are without wit or charm, without imagination or wisdom. You're a simple fool, an ass.
Acting the role of the numb simpleton is the only thing you make look easy. Your desperate, flaccid boasts are pitiful.
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For a loudmouth that was very poetic. ;-)

But it is about you.
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
UncleBuck said:
fake ordinance guy accuses others of fakeness. grand.
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Keep repeating it. Maybe someone other than your only friend here or one of your other accounts will believe you.

Your favorite president used this same tactic. Nice work buck. You remind me more of trump every post.

Maybe you can be president of the internet?
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
twostrokenut said:
are you making a case for artificially low government supplied auto loans?
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Low percent or zero percent auto loans are bought down by the auto companies own financial institution. Like GMAC will finance your new $50k truck low as an incentive to sell it.

And as far as predatory loans. Welcome to the real world I say. Buyer beware.

No one should have to pay for ones mistakes but oneself.
 
PCXV

PCXV

Well-Known Member
see4 said:
You'll get something soon man. Keep attacking it. Maybe consider padding your resume a bit? Get a friend to say you worked with them?
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Yeah I've got to do something to get my foot in the door. I do pretty well in interviews judging by my post-interview job offer rate, but have never made it to the interview stage in decent job in my field. Maybe it will happen, but I'm open to other opportunities too.
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
PCXV said:
Maybe I haven't seen it yet, but are saying that the school and/or lending institutions bear no responsibility for recieving/approving unsecured, subsidized loans without any assurance that they would be able to be paid back? They did literally zero due diligence to lend that money, weren't they taking just as much of a risk as I was? Or did they not care and have zero incentive because they knew I couldn't default? It all seems very unethical to me. So many 18 year olds are not ready for that decision, that was my biggest mistake. Taking a "year off" before starting college was heavily warned against at that time, said you would never end up going. Man I was dumb to take some of that advice and jump into debt without a guarantee.

But it seems you refuse to address anyone's responsibility but the student who traded going tens of thousands of dollars in unbankruptable debt for something of no value.
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You could have been sold a line of crap from a military recruiter instead and ended up dead or disabled instead of “seeing the world” or whatever pitch they used.

Buyer beware. With freedom comes good and bad. Honesty and dishonesty.

And most loans are sold by someone on commission for their salary.
 
PCXV

PCXV

Well-Known Member
MichiganMedGrower said:
Low percent or zero percent auto loans are bought down by the auto companies own financial institution. Like GMAC will finance your new $50k truck low as an incentive to sell it.

And as far as predatory loans. Welcome to the real world I say. Buyer beware.

No one should have to pay for ones mistakes but oneself.
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Like baloon payments and reverse mortgages leading up to the housing crisis? Just like student loans, when enough people are fooled or make a bad decision, it impacts the larger economy to some degree. I think it would make more sense to end the unjust and predatory practices to help prevent that sort of thing.

As for paying for your own mistakes, that sounds pretty fair. But it seems there are other instances where people bankrupt becuase of insurmountable debt and it is acceptable for the people they owe, or the population in general, to pay for it. Like medical bankruptcy. Say someone piles up $50k in medical bills caused by smoking or doing some stupid stunt. That was a health choice they made, they decided to get cheap or no insurance, the hospital provided an agreed upon service, yet they can bankrupt and others pay. It's just odd that bankruptcy applies to every bad decision people make accept choosing the wrong education/career path. (I'm sure there are some nuances I am missing about various bankruptcy types, I don't mind getting schooled if that's the case).
 
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