Student Loan Debt is Skyrocketing

Padawanbater2

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member


You've probably seen this chart before, but it's worth seeing again: Student loan debt is just flatly out of control. I understand why this has happened, and I understand why it's hard to get a handle on, but we're going to regret it if we don't do something about this. We're training a whole generation to be wary of going to college, and for those who do, we're forcing them to start out their lives living under a mountain of debt. This is a recipe for disaster. More here from Maggie Severns.

It's also yet another fault line between young and old that's not likely to turn out well. My generation got a cheap college education when we were young, and we're getting good retirement benefits now that we're old. Pretty nice. But now we're turning around and telling today's 20-somethings that they should pay through the nose for college, keep paying taxes for our retirements, and oh by the way, when it comes time for you to retire your benefits are going to have to be cut. So sorry. And all this despite the fact that the country is richer than it was 50 years ago.

But at least today's kids don't have to worry about being drafted. That's something, I suppose.


http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/06/chart-day-student-loan-debt-skyrocketing



So is the plan to just let this bubble bust like the housing bubble did in 08? Why isn't this top headlines, why isn't every politician talking about this, every media outlet? Why the hell is nobody talking about this like it's a monumental catastrophe that it is just waiting to happen?

Don't give me the entitlement bullshit, either.
 
B

BigNBushy

Well-Known Member
BadDog40 said:
You can thank Reagan.
Click to expand...
What in the hell does Reagan have to do with it, expand on your thought please?

Student loan debt isn't as bad as it sounds. My undergrad degree put me about 25K in the hole. I was lucky enough to have my parents pay for the first bit of it.

Then I went to law school. I only served 3 semesters, but it set me back over $100k. OUCH! I was unable, due to a variety of circumstances, to finish the JD program.

However, although I can never get out from under this by bankruptsy, new programs give me several options in handeling this mountain of debt I have accumulated.

I consolodated my loans and chose an option that binds me to payments over the next 30 years based on my income. When I consolodated I was working full time for $12 per hour. My monthy payment to satisfy my loan obligatins is $0 per month.... Thats right, I have to pay nothing at my current income levels and suffer no penalties.

Should I one day rise up that ladder and start making in the $50K per year neighborhood the payments are still entirely managable.

My ex-wife, who is a pharmacist, has around $180k in debt. Her salary is around $7k monthy, and her consolidated payments are just over $1k.

In my opinion this is one thing the federal government does fairly well at. They take all the risk, footing the bill for folks to get an education, and if the person does achieve some measure of success, they repay the government. Should the person fall shy of earning a great living, the burden to them is reasonable.

The problem, in my opinion, is with the states and the universitys in genral. I recall a lecture from one of my college professors on this very subject. He was telling us that when he was in college, back in the 60's, the political science department had a head. To sum it up, the major differences between the univerity system 50 years ago and today is the explosion, in terms of numbers, of people who are in the administration. These people make good money, and colleges hire a lot of them.
 
Padawanbater2

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
BigNBushy said:
What in the hell does Reagan have to do with it, expand on your thought please?

Student loan debt isn't as bad as it sounds. My undergrad degree put me about 25K in the hole. I was lucky enough to have my parents pay for the first bit of it.

Then I went to law school. I only served 3 semesters, but it set me back over $100k. OUCH! I was unable, due to a variety of circumstances, to finish the JD program.

However, although I can never get out from under this by bankruptsy, new programs give me several options in handeling this mountain of debt I have accumulated.

I consolodated my loans and chose an option that binds me to payments over the next 30 years based on my income. When I consolodated I was working full time for $12 per hour. My monthy payment to satisfy my loan obligatins is $0 per month.... Thats right, I have to pay nothing at my current income levels and suffer no penalties.

Should I one day rise up that ladder and start making in the $50K per year neighborhood the payments are still entirely managable.

My ex-wife, who is a pharmacist, has around $180k in debt. Her salary is around $7k monthy, and her consolidated payments are just over $1k.

In my opinion this is one thing the federal government does fairly well at. They take all the risk, footing the bill for folks to get an education, and if the person does achieve some measure of success, they repay the government. Should the person fall shy of earning a great living, the burden to them is reasonable.

The problem, in my opinion, is with the states and the universitys in genral. I recall a lecture from one of my college professors on this very subject. He was telling us that when he was in college, back in the 60's, the political science department had a head. To sum it up, the major differences between the univerity system 50 years ago and today is the explosion, in terms of numbers, of people who are in the administration. These people make good money, and colleges hire a lot of them.
Click to expand...

What to you is 'reasonable'?
 
S

spandy

Well-Known Member
BigNBushy said:
What in the hell does Reagan have to do with it, expand on your thought please?

Student loan debt isn't as bad as it sounds. My undergrad degree put me about 25K in the hole. I was lucky enough to have my parents pay for the first bit of it.

Then I went to law school. I only served 3 semesters, but it set me back over $100k. OUCH! I was unable, due to a variety of circumstances, to finish the JD program.

However, although I can never get out from under this by bankruptsy, new programs give me several options in handeling this mountain of debt I have accumulated.

I consolodated my loans and chose an option that binds me to payments over the next 30 years based on my income. When I consolodated I was working full time for $12 per hour. My monthy payment to satisfy my loan obligatins is $0 per month.... Thats right, I have to pay nothing at my current income levels and suffer no penalties.

Should I one day rise up that ladder and start making in the $50K per year neighborhood the payments are still entirely managable.

My ex-wife, who is a pharmacist, has around $180k in debt. Her salary is around $7k monthy, and her consolidated payments are just over $1k.

In my opinion this is one thing the federal government does fairly well at. They take all the risk, footing the bill for folks to get an education, and if the person does achieve some measure of success, they repay the government. Should the person fall shy of earning a great living, the burden to them is reasonable.

The problem, in my opinion, is with the states and the universitys in genral. I recall a lecture from one of my college professors on this very subject. He was telling us that when he was in college, back in the 60's, the political science department had a head. To sum it up, the major differences between the univerity system 50 years ago and today is the explosion, in terms of numbers, of people who are in the administration. These people make good money, and colleges hire a lot of them.
Click to expand...

Based off of the financials giving and that alone, I think I would of worked it out with the ex.

And the federal government is loaning out the peoples money, not their own.

Student, home, auto loan or credit card. Every zombie is required to have atleast one, or you don't get in the club.
 
I

ilikecheetoes

Well-Known Member
maybe pissing away 4 years at ASU for a liberal arts degree isnt the best way to spend money.
I get the college experience but you could get a shit job and a shit apartment and party your ass off for 4 years before going to a trade school and get a real job.
boohoo I can't get a job with my history degree and a minor in OWS protesting.
we always need plumbers and electricians. they make a shit ton of money. most arent rich because of their blue collar mentality, not becasue they dont make much money.
 
S

spandy

Well-Known Member
ilikecheetoes said:
maybe pissing away 4 years at ASU for a liberal arts degree isnt the best way to spend money.
I get the college experience but you could get a shit job and a shit apartment and party your ass off for 4 years before going to a trade school and get a real job.
boohoo I can't get a job with my history degree and a minor in OWS protesting.
we always need plumbers and electricians. they make a shit ton of money. most arent rich because of their blue collar mentality, not becasue they dont make much money.
Click to expand...
They were sold the lie like many others, going to high school being told they have to go to college if they ever want to make anything of themselves, so at 18 they get loans, go in debt, get credit cards, go in debt more, finish college, get paid just enough to get a home loan large enough to anchor their ass to the man for 30 years, use whats left for a new car, slave away 40 hours a week dreaming about their days off. Half of them don't even work in the field that the piece of paper on the wall says they read some books about, and most aren't being paid what they thought they would be.

People see a super car roll up, or pass by a beautiful home and say "Gee, I wonder what they do to make all that money". They probably fixed your leaking toilets, built your cabinets or tinted your windows, but so many assume they got learned at college. College is for about 1/3 of the people who are there. Most of the rest will some be consumed by it all and spend the next 30-40 years hating life.


A minor is OWS protesting, lol.
 
Balzac89

Balzac89

Undercover Mod
A huge chunk of it is college kids who go 1-2 years and drop out and work a minimum wage job. Never being able to pay it off.
 
T

tokeprep

Well-Known Member
The problem is that the government is willing to underwrite the education of any admitted student, whether the college admits 1,000 or 10,000 people. Consequently, colleges have no incentive to limit admission and no incentive to limit cost, so long as students are able to borrow the whole cost. The result is hundreds of bullshit schools printing worthless degrees that have very little value in finding work. The school gets paid immediately with government money, and the student might never have to pay anything back at all.

This is where the worthless parroting of "College for everyone!" and "You need a college degree to have a good life!" has gotten us. Good intentions--enabling more people to get college educations--have led to people who shouldn't be in college being there anyway, wasting their time and money on education they don't need.
 
Balzac89

Balzac89

Undercover Mod
I took two classes biology and chemistry 101. It cost me around 1,200 dollars for tuition. The only loan I was offered was for 6,500 dollars.

Is that fuct or what.

I paid cash.
 
SirGreenThumb

SirGreenThumb

Well-Known Member
The easiest way to control this debt is to stop taking private student loans and go to a state school. The mountain of debt that students are racking up is because they decide that it's a good idea to go to an expensive school, and then to take out private student loans from sallie mae, where the interest is to high to ever pay down. Not to mention, even if you went to a horrible school like ITT Tech where your credits don't even transfer, and your degree isn't worth the paper it's printed on you cannot file bankruptcy either.

Best option is to choose a field that participates in the cooperative education program, where you get real world work experience while earning your degree. All while being paid and getting credit for school. You can pay down your debt while in college, or even budget enough money to pay for your education as you go, and then be almost guaranteed a job when you graduate.
 
Balzac89

Balzac89

Undercover Mod
It's another way to pump money into the economy through politics.

It's like giving all students fresh out of high school a salary job. That of course they have to pay back
 
Balzac89

Balzac89

Undercover Mod
I didn't see the point. I don't buy things I can't afford.

Believe it or not I'm from the United States
 
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