Current tuition & fees at Northeastern is ~$40,000. If you add $10,000/year for living expenses (which is probably low for Boston), BAM! you're at $200k. Tuition was probably a little bit lower while she was there, but you add in the summer classes, books and miscellaneous expenses, and semester abroad, and it's easy to see how she got there.
From my calculations, tuition, fees, room, and board added up to approximately $175,000 for the four years she attended. So there's $25,000+ unaccounted for. Semester abroad would have accounted for several thousand of that.
I think that the combination of being 18, going to an expensive private school that was probably regaling her with all of the jobs she was sure to get with their degree, and being first gen college in a family that had no previous experience with what a college degree was really worth could easily cause her to be in this situation.
This. My parents encouraged me to take out the max amount each semester. Even if I didn't need it all. And I was working FT so it wasn't for living expenses. 8-D
I went to Northeastern and graduated a year before this girl. It was about 42k a year including room and board. Taking summer classes may have been necessary since it says she graduated in 4 years and it is a 5 year school. She also should have done co-op which is part of the curriculum and is PAID internships. Most of the students are paid very well depending on their field, and many (including me) use the $ they get to put towards their living expenses and tuition. I mean its feasible to rack this much up in undergrad but she definitely lived it up.
I am also slightly embarrassed she went to the same college as I did and am wondering what she majored in/what she does for work now.
I'm kind of bitter. I saw study abroad and summer classes both as luxuries for people whose parents were willing to foot the bill. I would have loved to free up my schedule a bit and not have to take 19 credit hours, but those classes were $$$ and going part time was not MM at my private college.
I mean, I get she's first gen, but you know that $200,000 is a shit ton of money and wouldn't a sane person not want to add more onto that figure unless absolutely necessary?
I think that just depends though. I studied abroad and took summer school on loans. Even though those ended up being pretty much my only loans for undergrad, I probably would have done it that way regardless. I wasn't going to skip study abroad because my parents were poor.
I did. My parents couldn't even afford the plane ticket so I skipped it. I'm sad about it but it was the right choice financially.
I went to an expensive private school and my total cost of attendance (including living expenses) was over 200k. But I don't expect internet strangers to pay for it. But I find your hating on her study abroad experience interesting.... my semester abroad was my cheapest semester of college. People think SLs are free money. But it's not my fault you made a bad decision.
My semester abroad in Italy cost roughly the same as staying on campus also. Only difference was airfare.
I can't judge too harshly on her. I am very lucky I graduated in an era where I could consolidate my loans at 2% for 30 years. Thank God.
I'm kind of bitter. I saw study abroad and summer classes both as luxuries for people whose parents were willing to foot the bill. I would have loved to free up my schedule a bit and not have to take 19 credit hours, but those classes were $$$ and going part time was not MM at my private college.
I mean, I get she's first gen, but you know that $200,000 is a shit ton of money and wouldn't a sane person not want to add more onto that figure unless absolutely necessary?
I think that just depends though. I studied abroad and took summer school on loans. Even though those ended up being pretty much my only loans for undergrad, I probably would have done it that way regardless. I wasn't going to skip study abroad because my parents were poor.
But did you ask other people to pay for your SL afterwards? No. This girl is trying to make others pay for hers. So I agree that there's really nothing wrong with borrowing to study abroad. It's expecting others to pay back that study abroad program that bothered me.
She got a payment plan when she signed for these loans. She would have at least a slight idea that once she graduates, she'd have to pay back roughly $1,600 a month in SL debt. And, she would be smart enough to figure out how much she'd have as take home pay after graduation. Net those two together, she should know if she can pay or not.
Considering she's already gotten $15K of donations, I guess those of us who took the safer route are the real suckazz.
I went to Northeastern and graduated a year before this girl. It was about 42k a year including room and board. Taking summer classes may have been necessary since it says she graduated in 4 years and it is a 5 year school. She also should have done co-op which is part of the curriculum and is PAID internships. Most of the students are paid very well depending on their field, and many (including me) use the $ they get to put towards their living expenses and tuition. I mean its feasible to rack this much up in undergrad but she definitely lived it up.
I am also slightly embarrassed she went to the same college as I did and am wondering what she majored in/what she does for work now.
Northeastern is known for this though. I went there for grad school and had a scholarship and assistantship so luckily didn't have this issue. I know a couple of people with 80K to 100K+ student loans from Northeastern undergrad.
We have a babysitter who is the most together young woman I've ever met, except for perhaps her younger sister. Our babysitter was 17 when she started college due to a late in year birthday. Our babysitter is very good at lot of things, academics, sports, extra curriculars, etc. but no so good that she would get a scholarship for any one of them. So when she graduated from high school, she enrolled at a very good university that was within driving distance from home. At the same time, she enrolled in the local community college. She took all the basics at the community college for less than $100 per credit hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On M-W-F, she took classes specific to her major at the university for $350 a credit hour. Halfway through her second year, she decided to change her major from nursing to speech language pathology. She also looked into all the schools who offered SLP and decided where she would have to transfer to get her degree. She then made damn sure every class she took would transfer and count toward her new major. She dropped down to part time until she could transfer so that she wasn't taking any extra classes. And she hustled her fanny off to get two jobs and save money. She has also applied for many, many scholarships. None of them are huge, anywhere from $500 book stipends to $2000 scholarships from the local Rotary Club, etc. But there have been hundreds of them. And they have added up. Applied for all of these small scholarships is almost a full time job in itself, I know because I have spent hours writing and rewriting letters of recommendation for her.
On top of that, my 3 yo gets speech therapy at a clinic run by one of the leading SLP's in the country. Her clinic attracts clients from all over the world and her methods have been featured on Nightline, 60 Minutes, etc. When our babysitter was deciding to switch to SLP, I offered to take her to my son's speech therapy appmt. Our babysitter tpolitely thanked me but said she had already arranged her own introduction to the therapist but asked if I could give her a ride to the clinic when I take my son since it is an hour both ways. Our babysitter has been networking with all of the therapists as well as the SLP's who are visiting from around the world for extra training at the clinic this summer. Our babysitter has a commitment to do her internship at this clinic and yet she hasn't even started her SLP specific coursework.
our babysitter is 20 years old and leaves for her new university next week. She will have about a year and a half left of class work plus internships. She will probably graduate with less than $15,000 in debt but with enough connections and good experience to land a job before the ink on her diploma dries.
And she is also 1st gen. So it's not as though she has anyone who has been through this before her to tell her all the steps she needs to do to get through college on the cheap. She's just that much of a go getter.
The article above makes me want to write her a check before she leaves. It won't be a huge amount, but it may cover one of her books. I also wish I could start a website to let everyone in the world know what a great young lady our babysitter is but she wouldn't think she had done anything special to deserve it. She would tell you she simply did the right thing. Compared to some of the entitled students we read about so frequently, just doing what is right for her family IS pretty special.
You also have to remember that tuition has been skyrocketing since whenever you graduated. Eight years ago, tuition at my private undergrad was $19,000. Today it's $37,000. Nearly double in eight years! Cost of attendant (tuition, room, and board) at my undergrad has hit $50,000. Four years of that, and you have $200,000.
And this is hardly limited to private schools. The most recent edition of a local law publication compared tuition at UW-Madison Law School. It has nearly TRIPLED in ten years.
The fact is that no matter where one goes to school, the cost of education is far, far outpacing wages. So sure, this one girl probably made some stupid decisions. But she's hardly alone, and it's really a systemic problem.
Agreed. And when the SL bubble finally does burst, it'll be spectacular.
Most things that I've read on this subject don't think it's actually going to burst like the housing market did and you saw a decline in prices. Instead, they seem to think that the rate of increase will probably start slowing at some point and that fewer people will go to four year schools (so, in other words, private schools will become the province of the rich again).
I mentioned a few weeks ago that my friend Courtney and I are starting a project to help raise awareness of "real world" problems, like personal finance, the college game, and generally unforeseen issues, for students who may not get the full scope otherwise. We hope to touch on etiquette as well: the comments I received in past months definitely showed that some people from older generations truly believe our generation lacks empathy, manners, etc. In taking their opinion into consideration, I feel as though we could become a one-stop shop for high schoolers and college students to gain info on any matter they'd like to know more about -- or need to. Please visit our site starting March 31st at infor.mu, and if you feel it's useful, pass it along to friends or any students who may be able to use us as a resource.
sounds like something a high schooler would come up with, not a college grad. She just sounds...uneducated.
She will probably graduate with less than $15,000 in debt but with enough connections and good experience to land a job before the ink on her diploma dries.
not in SLP.
you need a Master's degree (2 years after undergrad - 3 years if you haven't taken all the prereqs), a clinical fellowship (1 year), and your Certificate of Clinical Competence (after passing national Praxis).
I hate to be the person to deny someone the experience of living on campus, but girlfriend should have:
A. gone to school locally and lived at home B. got a job to pay for school and, if necessary, go to school part-time in order to pay for school C. gone to a cheaper school
At least for a few years. I refuse to encourage her idiocy by contributing to her fund and I resent all the people who have chosen to donate.
Post by curbsideprophet on Aug 24, 2012 8:10:31 GMT -5
I do think there needs to be more education about how much loans will cost in the end. People need to have a general idea of what they might earn once they graduate given the degree they have chosen.
Also, I studied abroad - and by doing so saved my parents about $10K. Study abroad was significantly cheaper than my expensive private liberal arts school. The tuition was cheaper and so were living expenses - and i studied abroad in Amsterdam and traveled all over Europe, too.
Post by ilikedonuts on Aug 24, 2012 8:30:14 GMT -5
I went to Boston University (about the same tuition wise as Northeastern). I know plenty of people that took out loans for all 4 years. I didn't even know what to say when they would tell me this.
Would everyone who is mad that she is getting donations now be mad if she had received donations and scholarships and grants before she started? I don't see how it's much different. People and businesses give out money for college all the time. Who cares that some people are doing it after-the-fact?
Post by mrssavy42112 on Aug 24, 2012 8:53:40 GMT -5
Yeah, my friend’s daughter is going to Northeastern & it is $50K a year. She is in a 5 year program, so that would be $250K. Fortunately, my friend works very hard & is able to pay for it in cash, so her daughter has no student loans. I’d cry if I had that much in SL.
Northeastern is a 5 year co-op program so that needs to be taken into consideration in regard to loans.
In the Northeast, state schools are pretty expensive as well. When my son graduated in 2010, the cost for tuition, room and board at UMass Amherst was over $21K.
I don't think $200K in undergrad loans is a good idea at all, but it's what we're dealing with when literally hundreds and hundreds of private colleges and universities exceed $50K per year.
Would everyone who is mad that she is getting donations now be mad if she had received donations and scholarships and grants before she started? I don't see how it's much different. People and businesses give out money for college all the time. Who cares that some people are doing it after-the-fact?
Because THEY have student loans/had to sacrifice for college/couldn't go study abroad and it's NOT FAIR that SHE is having other people pay for her POOR CHOICES. Nobody is helping THEM out with THEIR loans, they just have to pay for it like an ADULT SHOULD.
Would everyone who is mad that she is getting donations now be mad if she had received donations and scholarships and grants before she started? I don't see how it's much different. People and businesses give out money for college all the time. Who cares that some people are doing it after-the-fact?
Because THEY have student loans/had to sacrifice for college/couldn't go study abroad and it's NOT FAIR that SHE is having other people pay for her POOR CHOICES. Nobody is helping THEM out with THEIR loans, they just have to pay for it like an ADULT SHOULD.
*foot stomp*
I made my own sacrifices as well, but it's not like I was turning down grant money because I wanted to do it on my own. If anyone wants to voluntarily help me pay my loans, I will take it.
Would everyone who is mad that she is getting donations now be mad if she had received donations and scholarships and grants before she started? I don't see how it's much different. People and businesses give out money for college all the time. Who cares that some people are doing it after-the-fact?