College Debt

originally posted by: Bluntone22

The cost of college is so high because the government made it so easy for people to get funding. All that did was give colleges the go ahead to increase costs and enrollment.

The average college debt is 38k, but all we hear is 200k horror stories that are far and few in-between. The average college debt in UK is actually higher than the US and they have so called "free" college. Where a ton of the debt comes from is students living on the loan and not just using it for College tuition etc.

Our education system is so awful that we send kids to school for twelve years only to tell them that they need four more years, at their expense, to get a decent job.

Have you heard of trade skills? I guess to make 100k or more in a skilled trade job isn't the pushed narrative that everyone needs a college degree to be successful. 1/2 my team do not have a college degree, but they got skills and I start them off at about 90k. The other 1/2 that do have a degree it didn't help them at all in getting their job.

Nobody is truly to blame for the huge loan debt except the kids and their parents for signing on the dotted line but there can be an argument made on predatory loan practices.

Yes, I think if the Goverment forced a 2 to 4% interest rate instead of paying off the loans that would be better, I have heard of some as high as 15%.

originally posted by: JIMC5499
a reply to: HODOSKE

Had a High School Guidance Counselor tell me that it was a good thing that I was going into the Navy, because I wasn't college material. I ran into her a few months ago and she asked what I was doing and I told her. Four Associates and one Bachelor's Degree later.

Not to bad mouth teachers and guidance counselors, but my family had a long talk about this the other day at dinner.
We basically concluded most teachers are people that peaked in high school and can't make it in other industries. That's why so many teachers are always angry all the time. (no disrespect to good teachers!)

Good for you for not listening to your counselor!

a reply to: CloneFarm1000

Many companies don't offer physical books anymore. You buy a 1 or 2 year digital copy for the same price and you can't resell it.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

Many companies don't offer physical books anymore. You buy a 1 or 2 year digital copy for the same price and you can't resell it.

You actually need to register that you bought the digital book too before you can take the class. The old days of using hand-me-down books are gone.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Yeah, that is always one of the funny things. People will say "but people go to school in Europe for free or little money"... leaving out that vast majority don't get to go to college. You get tracked early on if you are college material.

College would be free here too if say only top 10% of students went....

originally posted by: CloneFarm1000
Forgiving student loans.



If you put 100+ hours into a single course/trade you should get a degree for it.

I'm DEFINITELY NOT visiting a "doctor" who received a degree in less than two weeks. I don't suggest anyone else do the same either.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I can't argue with you. I took Machine Design with CAD at a Community College. A few years after I graduated one of my Teachers came to work with us for a week to see how local industry did things. He was basically useless.

It is profitable for the college to have such a hold on credits.

a reply to: Jorgemeeek

But I don't think they want it to be public

the costs / benefits of a college are changing, and it's not the guarantee for a better life the way it was 40 years ago. For many, the cost of higher education means foregoing home ownership.

originally posted by: BomSquad
As long as college loans are guaranteed by the government, there is no reason for colleges to reign in costs. They get their money no matter what. No risk.

You'd think that someone would start up a low cost college in competition with them, and make their money based on small returns form large numbers of people.

That's how Walmart got to be one of the worlds leading retail chains with franchises everywhere from Red River to Red China.

a reply to: Xtrozero

Have you heard of trade skills? I guess to make 100k or more

Round these parts, a lot of folk simply don't have the money to hire a skilled tradesman, so you can be as skilled as you like, and labor dawn till dusk 6 days a week, but you'd be on a hiding to nothing because people don't have the money to pay you.

a reply to: CloneFarm1000

The majority of college debt is for graduate studies. I'm not interested in paying for someone's Master's or Doctorate.

originally posted by: Edumakated
a reply to: JAGStorm

Yeah, that is always one of the funny things. People will say "but people go to school in Europe for free or little money"... leaving out that vast majority don't get to go to college. You get tracked early on if you are college material.

College would be free here too if say only top 10% of students went....

That's not entirely true. Take Germany for example, college is extremely affordable and around half of people attend.

Link

I think the university makes money mostly from stipends and student contracts. Unfortunately, now even studies are not like they used to be. For example, many students use services like edubirdie.com... because they help them with dissertations, and students don't have to think for themselves anymore. Still, on the other hand, it's an ingenious method to have time to succeed in everything. It's a more profound discussion subject, not for this thread.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies
You'd think that someone would start up a low cost college in competition with them, and make their money based on small returns form large numbers of people.

That's how Walmart got to be one of the worlds leading retail chains with franchises everywhere from Red River to Red China.

The problem with that is getting it accredited. The people and organizations that do that are part of the current higher education cartel. The other thing is God forbid if you actually make a profit.

We had a couple of "for profit" schools in our area. I couldn't hire any of their graduates. Their degrees said "Machine or Mechanical Design", but, they weren't. If you have a degree in Machine or Mechanical Design and you don't know where to find information on a 6-32 thread, you were ripped off. When I got to my current job, some of our Designers were from those schools and it took me a year to get them where they should have been when they graduated school.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies

Round these parts, a lot of folk simply don't have the money to hire a skilled tradesman, so you can be as skilled as you like, and labor dawn till dusk 6 days a week, but you'd be on a hiding to nothing because people don't have the money to pay you.

Sure there are areas where people either do everything themselves or it doesn't get done and we can see that it typically ends up being the work just doesn't get done, but there are a lot of places that need trade skills and there is good work for them.

I'm not redoing my Roof, major work on my cars, fix my fence, resurface my garage floor and driveway, redo my back porch and add a covered roof to it. So on and so forth... Others will be doing all that for me..

I find the argument that tax payers would be required to bail out the banks to be odd given that children who often haven't reached the legal voting age were pushed into taking these loans by their teachers,their school's life guidance councilors, parents, and society in general such as sophisticated economist who make more than a open heart surgeon but don't beat index funds.

When Maddof's Ponzi Scheme blew up they shook the crooks who got rich off the scam to give the money back to the small fish.

I wouldn't even bail out the banks, I would make them take the loss like how we would all be forced to do so with bad investments. Pressuring 17 year olds into taking loans should be seen as a highly risky investment. If the whole financial system falls apart because predatory schemers were made to take a loss then perhaps we should take a closer look at our financial system.

Said it before ill say it again parents need to stop paying for the "experience" and they will save a lot of money, also want to save on costs. join the military, or the reserves or the guard, GI bill covered my B.S. and M.S., I did online so all the books were electronic think the cost was roughly 63k in total.

There are options out there, but people want to go to a big-name university for interpretive dance and stay drunk chasing tail.

For degree's that are actually needed I can see setting up something to help them post graduation, but the boat load of useless degree's NO.

I want 10k back for my Gi bill to use towards a PHD then, the really stupid thing about it all is the people they claim it will help it wont, it never does when the FED tries to fix it.

a reply to: Irishhaf

America is among the richest nations in the world, why are we making kids waste their best years of their life in the military when we can cut the middle man by paying for the education of talented youths ? There's a massive troop suicide problem if you didn't know.

How many Americans volunteered to be buried in Iraq & Afghanistan? How many Americans will ask to have their ashes be spread in Kuwait?