Post by thebreakfastclub on Nov 8, 2013 8:26:26 GMT -5
My 17 year old self didn't know much of anything and still chose to go to an inexpensive school. Student loans seemed scary to me then, and they were nothing compared to now. I couldn't understand why someone would go to a school that cost $30K/year when they could pick one that was $15K.
I graduated in 1997 with $15K in subsidized student loans at 2.0% interest. Win.
I got about half of my undergrad degree paid for by scholarships, and took out loans for the other half. For my professional degree, I'm taking out loans for the whole thing.
They are government loans though.
Ugh. I'm sorry you're dealing with this. It's shitty.
Just throwing this out there. I don't regret law school. I still think its a good investment if you go to a T14.
I'll qualify this with "if you plan to go into big law."
If you want to go the public interest or public sector route, you still want to be sure of what the loan forgiveness and scholarship options are. Back in the day, I knew I'd be able to go either way thanks to in state tuition. Sure, big law paid off my loans, allowed us to pay on DH's SL during his residency and paid the down payment on our house. However, I had trouble getting passionate about my work. If I'd chosen one the top five ranked schools I was deciding between, I would have been trapped with golden handcuffs. (Yeah, yeah. tight diamond shoes. But if you know you want to wear Toms instead, plan your law school education accordingly).
Post by Jalapeñomel on Nov 8, 2013 9:25:56 GMT -5
We figured that we'd rather have the education than own a home.
I just hate that interest rates on home loans are so low, and if you can't pay on your home loan, you can short sell or declare it through bankruptcy but the same is not true with SL (not that short sales or bankruptcy are good options).
We already signed up for IBR for our graduate loans. My undergrad loans are private, so I'm screwed on that front. Honestly, the first year or two is going to suck until we really get ourselves situated career wise (I'm just starting a new job and FI is getting his appraiser's license).
But we're looking at maybe a 15 year plan to pay this shit off. Monthly payment is probably going to be around...$1500 at the lowest
Sweet mother of God, that's our first and second mortgage combined.
Ya that is more than my mortgage. HOOOO LEEEEEEEEEEEEE SHIT. My niece is in the 6 year doctorate program at BU and when all is said in done she herself will be at least 200k in student loans. I can't even imagine the cost when my kids are college aged.
Ya I went to a state school and I graduated with about 8k in student loans. Paid it off in two years and my payments were like $50 a month. I cannot even imagine. I feel for your generation
A few months ago, my dad once asked me why it was taking me so long to pay off my loans. I graduated UG in 2000, grad school (education) in 2006. My parents declared bankruptcy my senior yr in high school so there was no support or quality financial education at all from that end. But I had been told my whole life that college was absolutely required to succeed in life. I went to a state school for both, but there were no scholarships, and they still counted my parents income so I didn't qualify for Pell or other grants; I got a 'scholarship' for 'female sophomore for highest GPA' and it was a whopping $500. And I worked at least 20hrs all through school, but that mainly paied rent. It took me over 6yrs after UG to start making more than 30K, and I'm still earning under 50K. Also this year, between the payroll tax resetting and our union contract agreement increasing insurance contributions and furlough days our take home pay is now down $210 a month. After all these years, my total student loans right now are just under $58K, so annual income is still well under my loan balance (urgh). I work for a state university admin office, and every day I cringe for the students attending now, and do have debates about the morals of working in this system.
So, my dad is prying about why finances are tight, and he says he managed to pay off all my college debt (a la 1972) by the time your brother was born in 1975; what is my problem?!? Turns out his loans totalled $2000--I get that take home income was lower then, but overall income vs expenses was much better than we have today. I explained how much my college costs were and what my current balance is, and he was completely flabbergasted. The Boomer generation definitely pushed the college dream on us, and have absolutely no clue what our reality is like.
Oh, and be careful about how you consolidate/refinance student loans if you are looking for public service forgiveness. Since I refinanced for an excellent rate back in 2007, it changed the category of my loans and I no longer qualify. To change back means more than doubling my interest rate and tripling my payment.
Is batshit crazy tuition an American phenomenon or is it like this in Canada now too? I graduated with $16k in loans and thought it was a lot at the time. Ugh, my kid is screwed.
Post by chickadee77 on Nov 8, 2013 10:15:15 GMT -5
Working in higher ed, I am always so glad when I see students utilizing the fin aid office and asking tons of questions. I always want to applaud them.
I hated working four jobs in college, but in retrospect, I'm glad I did. I think my SLs were only around $6000 (4-year private school, no direct parental help). But, I got a two-year grant because my mom died (not a route I recommend, btw), and part of grad school was covered 50% by my employer.
Honestly, I think this is a good lesson in choosing to go to grad school, too. I feel like I can understand making a poor choice to go to an expensive school as a high school student who is 18, but by the time someone finishes undergrad they should have a good idea of how bills work and decide if continuing to grad school is a good investment. Adding another 40k plus another 2 years of lost income plus another 2 years of interest accrual on the undergrad loans to get a job in social work was probably not a good choice.
I'm not pointing that out to be a jerk to the OP, but rather because it seems most of these responses are blaming education and loan costs rather than blaming choices made by an adult. I know a lot of people consider going back for a grad degree and it's really important considering the investment BEFORE getting in over your head.
I completely agree loans are ridiculous these days, though, and I've said many times that I think it sucks that I pay more interest on my student loans than I do on my car loan or mortgage. There is something messed up about that.
Agreed. However, part of the point *is* that loans and tuition are so incredibly expensive now. The world still needs social workers and other people in low paying fields that require higher education. So, while it is true that she made a choice to take on more loans for a not-very-lucrative career, are we to expect that people never choose to be social workers again because that would be a stupid choice in relation to the cost of the loans?
::back to reading the thread::
I agree with your point. We absolutely do need people to take these lower paying jobs, which is why the SL forgiveness program is a good one. I think it's ridiculous that someone should be in a big amount of debt for a career like teaching, social work, public defenders, etc where you need an education but don't get a good ROI.
That said, nobody needs to end up 150k+ in debt to get a MSW.
Are scholarships not as prevalent now? I went a private college that cost $30k+ per year 10 years ago (I'm sure it's in the $40k's now), but I had 6 figures in scholarship money that funded most of it. I read these stories and am incredibly grateful that things worked out for me because in hindsight it was kind of stupid for me to pick such an expensive college.
coming into this late but I am also a MSW, I work at a hospital and make about 1/3rd more than most MSW positions do, however I don't qualify for any kind of SL write off so that is the trade off.
working in healthcare is crazy these days but at least it pays well.
you were wise not to go to NYU for your MSW. It really does not matter where you got your MSW in most situations, just that the letters are behind your name.
Yeah, my mom worked her way through college as a cashier at a grocery store and just can't understand why anyone has to take out student loans. Because obviously she doesn't follow how much costs have gone up in 40 years.
Oh man. Does he/she defend it? Or just not talk about it?
I mean, nobody at work says anything bad about it. I know it must be hard for people sometimes, because sometimes we do start talking about relative quality of law schools, and all I've been hearing since applying to law schools is hahaha Cooley. I know it must be the same for coworkers in my age group. She went in the late 80s though. I don't know if it was different then. I know she doesn't have any money problems. Her husband is from a wealthy family and makes good money himself.
I don't understand why more people don't put off college until they are independent for financial aid purposes. CC is easily affordable by a working student (at least in CA), and if you are single, low income, and transfer at 24, you will probably (like me) qualify for maximum federal and state grants.
Is graduating 4 years later really too big of a price to pay to not take on tens of thousands of dollars of debt that would otherwise be free money? Not for me, certainly.
I don't understand why more people don't put off college until they are independent for financial aid purposes. CC is easily affordable by a working student (at least in CA), and if you are single, low income, and transfer at 24, you will probably (like me) qualify for maximum federal and state grants.
Is graduating 4 years later really too big of a price to pay to not take on tens of thousands of dollars of debt that would otherwise be free money? Not for me, certainly.
I don't understand why more people don't put off college until they are independent for financial aid purposes. CC is easily affordable by a working student (at least in CA), and if you are single, low income, and transfer at 24, you will probably (like me) qualify for maximum federal and state grants.
Is graduating 4 years later really too big of a price to pay to not take on tens of thousands of dollars of debt that would otherwise be free money? Not for me, certainly.
Because, as we can see by this thread, all 17/18 year olds make the best financial decisions possible.
Post by pixelpassion on Nov 8, 2013 11:08:55 GMT -5
I spent like 5 hours perusing MM last night and I have some thoughts:
I definitely have more of a game plan on which loans need to be paid more aggressively first. My definition of HHI is very different than MM's (for reference, my parents probably make like $50k a year, combined)
Things I am thankful for in this shitstorm of a situation: 1. FI and I don't have kids 2. FI and I are pretty frugal as it is 3. We're living in a practically rent free situation (about $100 a month) 4. That we have side jobs that will make up for the shortcomings of our low paying fields 5. ETA: and we have no CC debt
I just about died when my former boss told me his son was going to a school that cost $60K+ per year. I was lucky I went to a good private school on a full scholarship. I got into better (almost Ivy League) private schools, but at the time, even I (at age 18) knew paying $30K per year was not worth it when I could pay almost nothing. My graduating with no debt is probably the only reason H and I have a house and decent retirement savings. I feel so bad for people with huge student loans.
ETA: I also had a friend in HS make fun of me for not going to the pricier school. She said "you know the only thing that matters is the name of the school you graduate from, right?" She was a jerk.
I don't understand why more people don't put off college until they are independent for financial aid purposes. CC is easily affordable by a working student (at least in CA), and if you are single, low income, and transfer at 24, you will probably (like me) qualify for maximum federal and state grants.
Is graduating 4 years later really too big of a price to pay to not take on tens of thousands of dollars of debt that would otherwise be free money? Not for me, certainly.
smug
Truthfully? I transferred at 24 because I didn't have anything close to my shit together until I was 22. But looking back, yeah, I'm glad I didn't, because I would definitely be paying way too much money in SLs for a degree I probably wouldn't be using.
because up until like, 5 years ago it WAS the best choice? because they don't understand the financial ramifications themselves? because they really fucking want their kid to move out?