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(USA Today) Obvious Student loan debt hits record levels. But it's not like they're going to have to use math once they graduate   (usatoday.com) divider line 141
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2011-10-19 11:34:36 AM
My student lons reached a new record too...0

Csb
 
2011-10-19 11:36:48 AM
Dead for Tax Reasons: My student lons reached a new record too...0

Csb


Worth every penny?
 
2011-10-19 11:38:34 AM
Full-time undergraduate students borrowed an average $4,963 in 2010, up 63% from a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, the College Board reports. What's happening:

Oh noes!!!
$4,963 on a fixed rate loan that capitalizes quarterly!! However will they pay that off????
 
2011-10-19 12:06:58 PM
seems logical to me. there are more people than ever out of work borrowing money to go back to college to get an edumacation so they can get a job when they graduate. But there will not be any jobs. So then they will have to work 120 weeks to pay off their loans will occupying their parents basements.
 
2011-10-19 01:04:17 PM
EnviroDude: seems logical to me. there are more people than ever out of work borrowing money to go back to college to get an edumacation so they can get a job when they graduate. But there will not be any jobs. So then they will have to work 120 weeks to pay off their loans will occupying their parents basements.

Two years? Some Farkers have been in their mom's basement for decades.
 
2011-10-19 01:04:56 PM
Just sue them. You won't get shiat.
 
2011-10-19 01:05:04 PM
Barbigazi: Dead for Tax Reasons: My student lons reached a new record too...0

Csb

Worth every penny?


Get off of his lon!
 
2011-10-19 01:05:49 PM
Once you harmonize the statistical quirks, the student loan debt rates are the lowest ever in recorded history.
 
2011-10-19 01:08:51 PM
I don't believe banks should be held responsible for lending you $150,000 for a Degree in Poetry, but i feel that students should be held responsible for paying back every penny.
 
2011-10-19 01:09:05 PM
21-37-42: Once you harmonize the statistical quirks, the student loan debt rates are the lowest ever in recorded history.

golf clap
 
2011-10-19 01:09:25 PM
what_now: Full-time undergraduate students borrowed an average $4,963 in 2010, up 63% from a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, the College Board reports. What's happening:

Oh noes!!!
$4,963 on a fixed rate loan that capitalizes quarterly!! However will they pay that off????


That stat is just for 2010. Assuming they're in college at least four years, that's 20k total.
 
2011-10-19 01:12:17 PM
12349876: what_now: Full-time undergraduate students borrowed an average $4,963 in 2010, up 63% from a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, the College Board reports. What's happening:

Oh noes!!!
$4,963 on a fixed rate loan that capitalizes quarterly!! However will they pay that off????

That stat is just for 2010. Assuming they're in college at least four years, that's 20k total.


that sounds about right.
and forget about getting a job w/o a degree anymore. Even WITH one (depending on field) it's hard to find work.
 
2011-10-19 01:12:29 PM
12349876: what_now: Full-time undergraduate students borrowed an average $4,963 in 2010, up 63% from a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, the College Board reports. What's happening:

Oh noes!!!
$4,963 on a fixed rate loan that capitalizes quarterly!! However will they pay that off????

That stat is just for 2010. Assuming they're in college at least four years, that's 20k total.


So...you could pay it off in 5 years, like a car?
 
2011-10-19 01:14:36 PM
I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.
 
2011-10-19 01:14:40 PM
I was told there would be no math.

/by my high school guidance counselor
 
2011-10-19 01:17:24 PM
Still $150k in the hole but declining at a steady rate of $20k+/yr.
 
2011-10-19 01:18:14 PM
RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.


truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.
 
2011-10-19 01:19:29 PM
You need a better job--------->
Can't find a better job?-------->
You need to go back to school------>
Can't afford school?--------->
You need a student loan-------->
Can't pay back your student loan?------>
(back to beginning)
 
2011-10-19 01:20:09 PM
cryinoutloud: You need a better job--------->
Can't find a better job?-------->
You need to go back to school------>
Can't afford school?--------->
You need a student loan-------->
Can't pay back your student loan?------>
(back to beginning)


rinse, repeat.
 
2011-10-19 01:20:46 PM
pxlboy: RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.

truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.


I too am thinking of trying to learn a trade if I lose my job. Are there trade schools around anymore or do you just have to somehow learn it on your own?
 
2011-10-19 01:20:59 PM
RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades.
 
2011-10-19 01:21:36 PM
ghare: 12349876: what_now: Full-time undergraduate students borrowed an average $4,963 in 2010, up 63% from a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, the College Board reports. What's happening:

Oh noes!!!
$4,963 on a fixed rate loan that capitalizes quarterly!! However will they pay that off????

That stat is just for 2010. Assuming they're in college at least four years, that's 20k total.

So...you could pay it off in 5 years, like a car?


Not when you ALREADY have a car payment AND rent AND you can barely get a minimum wage job.
 
2011-10-19 01:22:29 PM
tdyak: I don't believe banks should be held responsible for lending you $150,000 for a Degree in Poetry, but i feel that students should be held responsible for paying back every penny.

knew there would be someone in here making a comment like this. Teaching, Nursing, Engineering, Business, any type of graduate is having trouble finding a job or a job with a good salary right now. People LOVE to make the assumption that people out of work or the OWS protestors all have "Women's Studies" or "Poetry" degrees.
 
2011-10-19 01:24:19 PM
""It's going to create a generation of wage slavery," says Nick Pardini, a Villanova University graduate student in finance who has warned on a blog for investors that student loans are the next credit bubble - with borrowers, rather than lenders, as the losers."

Get back to work slave... Also, shouldn't he say it's going to create *another* generation of wage slavery?

/Glad to see he got a degree in something *useful*... **cough**
 
2011-10-19 01:25:21 PM
RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.


It's much harder to be mobile in the trades especially since most licensing is local. I like my reputable engineering degree with a Hague Apostille to take care of pretty much all technical requirements I need. But I like moving a lot, if you're cool with staying in the same town/state, it's totally worth it.
 
2011-10-19 01:27:16 PM
rtaylor92: tdyak: I don't believe banks should be held responsible for lending you $150,000 for a Degree in Poetry, but i feel that students should be held responsible for paying back every penny.

knew there would be someone in here making a comment like this. Teaching, Nursing, Engineering, Business, any type of graduate is having trouble finding a job or a job with a good salary right now. People LOVE to make the assumption that people out of work or the OWS protestors all have "Women's Studies" or "Poetry" degrees.


The messed up part is that a couple months ago, the Republicans were all screaming "where are the jobs, Obama, even the smart people are having trouble finding good work," then, without missing a beat, as soon as they saw people actually protesting about how American companies have produced 18 million jobs overseas while slashing 16 million here, they start calling the unemployed a bunch of lazy hippies who just don't try hard enough. Were I to believe Republicans, Obama has done a great job, there are plenty of jobs out there, and America is just chock full of lazy shmucks.
 
2011-10-19 01:27:32 PM
ddam: pxlboy: RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.

truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.

I too am thinking of trying to learn a trade if I lose my job. Are there trade schools around anymore or do you just have to somehow learn it on your own?


There is a local tech college that absorbed the other locals. The tuition is cheap and they have (as I understand it) a fairly decent job placement rate. I've worked in IT for the majority of my adult life, but I'm tired of this industry.
 
2011-10-19 01:28:36 PM
pxlboy: RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.

truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.


Most trades jobs want you to have many years of experience so they don't have to hold your hand till you learn it or fail at it.
 
2011-10-19 01:29:30 PM
Do you mean that is it possible - just remotely possible - that the old saw about "you have to go to college to succeed in life" that they shoved down our throats all through high school was a line of bull shirt? Say it isn't so!!!!!

/ Went to college for broadcast engineering
// School pulled curriculum while I was half way through it so I couldn't finish that
/// Ran out of money after that and had to move back with my parents (no loans)
//// Now a successful VMware Consultant
// Slashies FTW!
 
2011-10-19 01:30:04 PM
RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.


Some are, I know a guy in his 40's that just joined a window installation union, it has a fancy name but I forget. Pretty good pay as long as you stay, but you travel. Driving 100 miles to a jobsite daily isn't out of the question. A 20 yr old kid quit being a pipe fitter at ~$18/hr since he hated sitting around, and the daily travel. He was in my group for new hires at a shiatty plastic molding factory I took as a second pt job a few yrs ago when things got tight. I really wanted to smack some sense into him...
 
2011-10-19 01:31:28 PM
12349876: That stat is just for 2010. Assuming they're in college at least four years, that's 20k total.

The national average is just over $17k

Copypasta time:

Re: student loans.

Ok, so the feds have ALREADY figured this out, and came up with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. 10 years at a non profit + income based repayments = remaining debt forgiven.

This is EXCELLENT for those people (usually graduate students) who have high FEDERAL loan debt. Sadly, Uncle Sugar only lends about $31k to undergrads (or $57k if you're an independent) at most.

Most students have high PRIVATE loan debt, which of course has no forgiveness plan.

My solution is two part:

1) Comprehensive financial literacy starting in 5th grade and going though graduation, so students realize that borrowing variable interest rate loans to live in super fancy dorms is insane.

2) Massive federal spending for community colleges and state colleges, making those affordable at the CURRENT level of federal lending.

Having $31k in student loan debt when you graduate is an acceptable investment. Having $160k because you went to a private university and put your entire cost of living for four years on a loan is a mistake that ALL TOO MANY kids have made because they lacked the education to do it any differently.

But no, the federal government will not pay Sallie Mae for you.
 
2011-10-19 01:31:52 PM
I guess some people have a problem with this because some people are stupid enough to think this means "a bunch of debt that isn't being paid back because people are lazy" rather than "school is expensive and more people are taking advantage of student loans".
 
2011-10-19 01:32:02 PM
I think I'll be an Ancient Astronaut Theorist.
 
2011-10-19 01:32:21 PM
The student loan model of this country needs to be redone. The loan companies are making the profit, but the government is fronting the risk. It is inane and one of them needs to step out of the picture.
 
2011-10-19 01:35:00 PM
plc5_250: Do you mean that is it possible - just remotely possible - that the old saw about "you have to go to college to succeed in life" that they shoved down our throats all through high school was a line of bull shirt? Say it isn't so!!!!!

/ Went to college for broadcast engineering
// School pulled curriculum while I was half way through it so I couldn't finish that
/// Ran out of money after that and had to move back with my parents (no loans)
//// Now a successful VMware Consultant
// Slashies FTW!


one of my friends dropped out of film school and went into tech support for EMC Corp who paid for his training and certs. he makes as much as a doctor with no degree or student loan debt
 
2011-10-19 01:35:27 PM
ddam: pxlboy: RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.

truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.

I too am thinking of trying to learn a trade if I lose my job. Are there trade schools around anymore or do you just have to somehow learn it on your own?


Aside from trade schools, there are also good paid apprenticeships out there. We just had an electrician out, as he was going he was teaching his two helpers about various parts of code, about the value of fixing mistakes instead of hiding them (as had been done in previous renovations), and about how to keep things neat and organized within the walls so it would be easy to change things if there was a problem later. Simply put, there's always a good demand for detail-oriented hard workers.
 
2011-10-19 01:35:53 PM
bacongood: The student loan model of this country needs to be redone. The loan companies are making the profit, but the government is fronting the risk. It is inane and one of them needs to step out of the picture.

Are you from the past? Because the FEELP loan program ended in 2010.
 
2011-10-19 01:35:54 PM
rtaylor92: tdyak: I don't believe banks should be held responsible for lending you $150,000 for a Degree in Poetry, but i feel that students should be held responsible for paying back every penny.

knew there would be someone in here making a comment like this. Teaching, Nursing, Engineering, Business, any type of graduate is having trouble finding a job or a job with a good salary right now. People LOVE to make the assumption that people out of work or the OWS protestors all have "Women's Studies" or "Poetry" degrees.


He's right, I know physicists, engineers, CompSci, and especially, ESPECIALLY teachers who can't find anything. And that degree overqualifies them for a lot of min. wage positions. Those who were healthy enough joined up w/ the military.
 
2011-10-19 01:37:48 PM
firefly212: ddam: pxlboy: RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.

truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.

I too am thinking of trying to learn a trade if I lose my job. Are there trade schools around anymore or do you just have to somehow learn it on your own?

Aside from trade schools, there are also good paid apprenticeships out there. We just had an electrician out, as he was going he was teaching his two helpers about various parts of code, about the value of fixing mistakes instead of hiding them (as had been done in previous renovations), and about how to keep things neat and organized within the walls so it would be easy to change things if there was a problem later. Simply put, there's always a good demand for detail-oriented hard workers.


Dig it. I might just go down to the tech school this week and look into that. It could be worth pursuing.

That's what Mike Rowe was on about: We have devalued hard work in this country. We see anything less than a white collar job as failure.
 
2011-10-19 01:39:13 PM
pxlboy: RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.

truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.



I now wish I had Id love to learn metal working or cabinet making. Maybe make some high end furniture. My dad can pull an entertainment center from his butt. Damn him for not showing me more!!!!
 
2011-10-19 01:42:06 PM
cryinoutloud: You need a better job--------->
Can't find a better job?-------->
You need to go back to school------>
Can't afford school?--------->
You need a student loan-------->
Can't pay back your student loan?------>
(back to beginning)


Wasn't this an Alice Cooper song?
 
2011-10-19 01:42:07 PM
what_now: bacongood: The student loan model of this country needs to be redone. The loan companies are making the profit, but the government is fronting the risk. It is inane and one of them needs to step out of the picture.

Are you from the past? Because the FEELP loan program ended in 2010.


That was a step in the right direction, but I would like to see more.
 
2011-10-19 01:42:46 PM
"one of my friends dropped out of film school and went into tech support for EMC Corp who paid for his training and certs. he makes as much as a doctor with no degree or student loan debt"

How much do doctors without degrees usually make, annually? And how do they manage to get malpractice insurance?
 
2011-10-19 01:42:55 PM
Interest rates on my federal loans are killing me. I've paid about $2100 the last eight months and the principal has only gone down like $1100. Almost done paying off state loans so I can start paying bigger chunks toward the Federal.

/didn't major in engineering
//lucked into a job
 
2011-10-19 01:43:33 PM
farknozzle: Still $150k in the hole but declining at a steady rate of $20k+/yr.

High five, dude. I'm 81k deep myself, down from 131k at the peak. The problem is, I have 2 much younger siblings that are about to go to college, and I really want to help them pay so that they don't emerge buried themselves. They might not get as lucky as I did with eventually finding a job after school.

And then of course it will be time for my parents to retire, and they disconnected their 401ks years ago in order to deal with their underwater mortgage. Hopefully by that time my bro will be out of school and able to help a little. Still, I'm pretty sure that I'll be living with roommates into my 40s.
 
2011-10-19 01:45:11 PM
groppet: pxlboy: RedEmily: I see alot of need for good people in the trades. Good paying if you get in a union and no college debt.

I wonder why more guys don't pursue that.

truthfully, that's been on my mind lately. i was considering going back (to a state school) for teaching. but i wonder if that time wouldn't be better spent learning something like plumbing or electrical.

i know that a master plumber can do really well.


I now wish I had Id love to learn metal working or cabinet making. Maybe make some high end furniture. My dad can pull an entertainment center from his butt. Damn him for not showing me more!!!!


I know a guy, actually my aforementioned friend's father-in-law, who builds Adirondack chairs in his garage and I hear is making a killing on them. They can go for $200 a pop or something like that...and that's unpainted, I think.
 
2011-10-19 01:45:42 PM
Imperialism: Interest rates on my federal loans are killing me. I've paid about $2100 the last eight months and the principal has only gone down like $1100. Almost done paying off state loans so I can start paying bigger chunks toward the Federal.

/didn't major in engineering
//lucked into a job


That's actually pretty good for dropping the principle. For fun, look at the amortization tables for a typical mortgage; it will take you years to drop the principle $1100.
 
2011-10-19 01:45:47 PM
lamecomedian: "one of my friends dropped out of film school and went into tech support for EMC Corp who paid for his training and certs. he makes as much as a doctor with no degree or student loan debt"

How much do doctors without degrees usually make, annually? And how do they manage to get malpractice insurance?


I mean, he doesn't have an IT degree, but makes about 200k/yr. Forgive my lack of clarity.
 
2011-10-19 01:46:19 PM
shaunmark: I think I'll be an Ancient Astronaut Theorist.

troll.me
 
2011-10-19 01:47:12 PM
groppet: I now wish I had Id love to learn metal working or cabinet making. Maybe make some high end furniture. My dad can pull an entertainment center from his butt. Damn him for not showing me more!!!!

My dad never 'showed' me how to build anything, but he did let me watch while he was doing all the crap he did around the house, from plumbing, wiring, building cabinets, tables, working on the car, whatever. What I learned is that given a reasonable plan, the right tools, and no fear of failure will get the job done. We put new windows in our house three years ago. Never done it before, but we did it anyway. Remove siding around the window, measure for new window, crowbar out the old, install and insulate. Wife is constantly amazed that I can pull stuff like this out of my butt. How hard can it be?
 
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