I'm not sure how things work for undergrad loans, but for my med school federal loans they're fixed at 6.8%. Grad plus loans are 8.5%.
It just seems insane to me that I can go out and buy a house for a lower interest rate than student loans.
Our mortgage interest is less than half of what my SL interest is. I was pooooor when I graduated and those loans came due. I consolidated them and went to 20 years on them with 8.5% so I could actually afford the payments when I first graduated. Now i am stuck and can't consolidate them or move them to another lender for a lower rate. IT SUCKS. stupid laws.
Post by Overthemoon on Nov 8, 2013 13:47:24 GMT -5
At our high school, College Prep was the only track they offered and if you didn't go to college you were a failure. I was so so fortunate to get the state scholarship that covered tuition all four years. I also maxed out my AP credits to get essentially a semesters worth of credits. I worked as an RA three of the four years to get free housing and a tiny paycheck every month. I managed to leave with about $15k in federal loans. DH's parents paid for his college in full and then he got a scholarship for his masters.
We were so fortunate to end up with relatively little debt. SO many of our friends left with six figures of student loans and they have been visibly crippled by them in their post college life. It makes me angry to already be stressed about saving enough for our kids' college and I hope some major changes come soon. And I agree that our generation is really getting strangled.
Well, I'll be the asshole and say that there are a lot of people for whom CC isn't appropriate. Sorry, but as someone who was applying to Ivies and other top schools, I wasn't going to go to CC to save money and graduate 4 years late.
I'm pretty sure elle 's H, who's not a dummy, did the CC to very, very good UG. And also didn't *need* to save the money (someone please correct me if I'm remembering wrong).
Correct. He did CC to Stanford, to Oxford, to Boalt. He got into Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and the lesser ivies out of high school but went to CC for two years because his father had had a heart attack. He loves his CC. And would scoff at someone pretending CC isn't good enough for them.
My mom's exact words throughout high school to me were: "Just get a degree. it doesn't matter what it's in, as long as you have A degree, you'll get any job you want."
Yeah.
I will definitely encourage my girls to do the CC route (I am at one now and I love it). Of course, who knows what will happen with the education bubble between now and then? Still, I hope to be a more realistic support for them than what I had.
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 the last damn thing I was going to do was stay in my hometown when I graduated from high school. I went to a private university - I grew up lower middle class and I was bound and determined not to let money stand in the way of what I where I wanted to go. I graduated in 1997 with $40K in debt, which is high (for that time period), but not unmanageable.
Probably not the greatest financial decision, but I don't regret it. I also don't regret my law school debt - I knew I had to do a state school, but I graduated from a Tier 1 school (not a top 14, as discussed pages back) in 2003 and have been fine.
Would I prefer not to have the debt? Sure, but I'll take it over staying in upstate new york for several years tyvm.
I'm pretty sure elle 's H, who's not a dummy, did the CC to very, very good UG. And also didn't *need* to save the money (someone please correct me if I'm remembering wrong).
Correct. He did CC to Stanford, to Oxford, to Boalt. He got into Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and the lesser ivies out of high school but went to CC for two years because his father had had a heart attack. He loves his CC. And would scoff at someone pretending CC isn't good enough for them.
I think he's attitude at 18 is really impressive. I am from a small town and the local CC was like an extension of high school. It would have been a cold day in hell before I would even entertain the thought of going to school there for 2 years.
When I was 18 and graduated high school, I did know enough that I didn't want to be riddled with student loans. I was lucky in the fact that my parents told me that if I go to a state University (and live there) they will pay for it 100%. If I choose to go anywhere else, they would pay what it would cost to go to the state U and it was up to me to cover the rest. I chose the state university, have no debt, and have an excellent, well-paying professional career.
My mom's exact words throughout high school to me were: "Just get a degree. it doesn't matter what it's in, as long as you have A degree, you'll get any job you want."
I had several people tell me this in high school. It worked for them. My uncle has a degree in Zoology and is a VP in marketing. It worked for that generation, I guess.
When I was 18 and graduated high school, I did know enough that I didn't want to be riddled with student loans. I was lucky in the fact that my parents told me that if I go to a state University (and live there) they will pay for it 100%. If I choose to go anywhere else, they would pay what it would cost to go to the state U and it was up to me to cover the rest. I chose the state university, have no debt, and have an excellent, well-paying professional career.
Correct. He did CC to Stanford, to Oxford, to Boalt. He got into Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and the lesser ivies out of high school but went to CC for two years because his father had had a heart attack. He loves his CC. And would scoff at someone pretending CC isn't good enough for them.
I think he's attitude at 18 is really impressive. I am from a small town and the local CC was like an extension of high school. It would have been a cold day in hell before I would even entertain the thought of going to school there for 2 years.
That's true. I suppose having the fortune to live near a very good community college with paths for transferring to either a University of California or California State school helped a great deal in my ability to transfer and finish college in 4 years. I suppose I'm naive and don't know what other community colleges are like. The classes at my community college were on par with the classes at my university.
In what kind of instance is CC not appropriate? I'm a proponent for CC first then transition to a 4-year school. Most degrees require 60 credits of gen ed. Why pay a larger tuition for the same credits? Also how would you be graduating 4 years late?
PS- I went to a CC, then an online Bachelors program and then went Ivy (and was #1 ranked school for my program so you can sense the competition). That's saying I had also attributes they were looking for than just scholastics.
I went to a private liberal-arts college. My sophomore year, I transferred to a large state school on a whim, and transferred back my junior year.
Many of my general-ed credits, taken at the state school, did not transfer back to my liberal-arts school; or if they did, they were empty credits and were not applied toward my degree requirements there.
In that sense, a CC would also not have been appropriate vis-a-vis credit transfers.
Eh. My first two years of college were at a CC. I just took general core classes and then my last two years were at a large state school. I got a BS and work in my field, so it worked out fine for me. I can see how it maybe wouldn't work out as well in other situations, but I'm glad I did it.
Also, I'm getting irritated at everyone who is swinging through all "Well I went to CC and managed not to have a bunch of student loans." Bully for you, lady. I also went to a CC, however crowing about how I avoided the student loan trap that almost EVERYBODY ELSE falls into is not only NOT HELPFUL in this discussion but it kind of makes you look like a self-righteous tool.
I went to CC and still have a pretty decent sum of SL (for CC), because I was on my own at 16. I did it all wrongggggg LOL
I went to a very rural high school in the middle of a cow pasture with 300 students, K-12. But reading threads like these makes me forever be grateful to my 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Westbrook, who made us do a project where you wrote pretend checks and learned to balance a checkbook.
I just cant fathom the process that goes into borrowing $200k+ while never thinking about earning potential or the ability to pay it back. But unfortunately if schools don't teach practicality and parents give no guidance, this is the shitstorm that results.
I guess all those people racking up student loans for an accounting degree are going to be REALLY BAD accountants. They don't even know how to balance a check book!
I went to a very rural high school in the middle of a cow pasture with 300 students, K-12. But reading threads like these makes me forever be grateful to my 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Westbrook, who made us do a project where you wrote pretend checks and learned to balance a checkbook.
I just cant fathom the process that goes into borrowing $200k+ while never thinking about earning potential or the ability to pay it back. But unfortunately if schools don't teach practicality and parents give no guidance, this is the shitstorm that results.
I think it depends on the school culture that you were brought up in. Also, don't be obtuse and generalize people who were misinformed by the older generation to take risky investments in their education to someone who can't be responsible with their day to day finances.
In my highschool, 98% of the graduating class went on to college, so if you didn't go on to a university, you were seen as a loser and all of the school support staff basically told us and our parents that it was imperative to go to the best school possible, whatever the cost.
I have all the books I could need, and what more could I need than books? I shall only engage in commerce if books are the coin. -- Catherynne M. Valente
I'm pretty sure elle 's H, who's not a dummy, did the CC to very, very good UG. And also didn't *need* to save the money (someone please correct me if I'm remembering wrong).
Correct. He did CC to Stanford, to Oxford, to Boalt. He got into Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and the lesser ivies out of high school but went to CC for two years because his father had had a heart attack. He loves his CC. And would scoff at someone pretending CC isn't good enough for them.
Let's be honest: your husband is the exception. Stanford takes very few CC transfer students. His extraordinary circumstances, plus the fact he had been accepted out of high school, plus family name and money probably helped keep that door open for him.
UCs and Cal State schools are another matter. They hold slots for CC transfer students.
I think he's attitude at 18 is really impressive. I am from a small town and the local CC was like an extension of high school. It would have been a cold day in hell before I would even entertain the thought of going to school there for 2 years.
I highly doubt there wasn't a CC available outside of your hometown.
I completely agree, but this was not something that would have occurred to me when I was 18. It was home CC or away, non-CC. I fully realize that this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I was pretty determined to get out of my hometown and to me, that meant a private school (with ALL the student loans that go with it!) <)
I also hate SLs. Mine alone are more than our mortgage payment.
This is probably (very) flameful, but I don't even know how much my H still owes. I see the payments every month, but that's it. I think I'd rather not know.
I just asked my H last night how much we still owe on his SL. He wasn't sure. I don't know either. We pay every month though.
So not flameful... or I guess we'll be flamed together.
OP, my sister has debt like that as well. I'm sorry; it royally sucks.
Regarding CC, like a PP I'm in a fairly small town and the CC at that time was consided high school plus; it's improved slightly. However in HS, I was a grade ahead for my age, taking AP and advanced classes and graduated in the top 10 of my 320 student class (and hearing impaired to boot); I was one of the 'smart' kids. My parents couldn't even afford to pay for my college applications, so I only applied to NYU and a SUNY school early decision. I had my heart set on NYU, then broken in July when I attended orientation and learned my math score on my SAT kept me just out of range of scholarships, and ended up at my local state school after all. People were shocked that I ended up at a state school, and would have been appalled if I had attended CC; it was definitely a status thing. Status matters when you're 17 and have been an outsider in school all your life, and you have no financial education grounded in reality. So, at least I made the 'right' choice on state school, but still the cost was more than I could afford, because heck I had no money at all.
ETA: to correct the your/you're error because I was going too fast and I do know the difference.
Correct. He did CC to Stanford, to Oxford, to Boalt. He got into Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and the lesser ivies out of high school but went to CC for two years because his father had had a heart attack. He loves his CC. And would scoff at someone pretending CC isn't good enough for them.
Let's be honest: your husband is the exception. Stanford takes very few CC transfer students. His extraordinary circumstances, plus the fact he had been accepted out of high school, plus family name and money probably helped keep that door open for him.
UCs and Cal State schools are another matter. They hold slots for CC transfer students.
Sure, those things helped him get into Stanford. And a kid who couldn't get into Stanford out of high school probably isn't going to magically transform into a Stanford candidate in community college. But what is possible is for a student who gets into a top school, but cannot afford it without hefty loans, is to go to community college and then transfer in two years. If you do well at CC the top tier college will likely still be there two years later.
Sure, those things helped him get into Stanford. And a kid who couldn't get into Stanford out of high school probably isn't going to magically transform into a Stanford candidate in community college. But what is possible is for a student who gets into a top school, but cannot afford it without hefty loans, is to go to community college and then transfer in two years. If you do well at CC the top tier college will likely still be there two years later.
So there is no snobbery w/r/t coming from a CC if you want to go to say, Princeton? They'll still consider you as equally as they would a a person right out of h.s.? This makes me happy, as I didn't realize that.
Don't think so. I think it ends up sounding that way because most people who can get in to top tier schools go directly from high school, without a CC detour. But CC isn't going to make a kid with 99th percentile SAT's, and straight A's since forever, less viable of a candidate.
When I graduated in 2000 my tuition for that year (undergrad) was about $4600. Now it is 5800. So a 26% increase in 13 years. But still, my entire post secondary education cost me the following:
Honours BA: lets say 4500 x 4 = 18k BEd: 6000 MEd: 10000 (I did this part time over 3 years, I think this is about what I paid total).
So...without living expenses or books: 34k for three degrees at the top ranked school in the country (then, I heard it just got bumped down).
So yes more than it was, but still nothing compared to what people in the US pay...yay for government subsidies and socialism