Student loan forgiveness

[Tradd]

Do a high percentage of teachers and social workers emerge from ivy league schools? To be honest, I've had no personal experience with rich and influential friends, myself.

My point was that people with low earning potential, such as teachers and social workers, shouldn’t be taking out loans to go to expensive private schools. I wasn’t even thinking about Ivy League. There’s plenty of smaller schools with a price tag. Northwestern or Notre Dame come to mind.

[JaneV2.0]

My point was that people with low earning potential, such as teachers and social workers, shouldn’t be taking out loans to go to expensive private schools. I wasn’t even thinking about Ivy League. There’s plenty of smaller schools with a price tag. Northwestern or Notre Dame come to mind.

I don't see much logic to going to a super-expensive school for a teaching degree. Maybe I'm out of touch.

[bae]

My point was that people with low earning potential, such as teachers and social workers, shouldn’t be taking out loans to go to expensive private schools. I wasn’t even thinking about Ivy League. There’s plenty of smaller schools with a price tag. Northwestern or Notre Dame come to mind.

Some of the Ivy League schools are essentially free if you have financial need. Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton issue financial awards packages that include $zero in student loans, and students graduate debt-free.

[LDAHL]

If the average student debt on leaving college is south of $30K, does that really constitute a crisis? The media can always find someone who overleveraged themselves as a “victim of the system”, but does the cost of a cheap car really merit all the political posturing?

[iris lilies]

If the average student debt on leaving college is south of $30K, does that really constitute a crisis? The media can always find someone who overleveraged themselves as a “victim of the system”, but does the cost of a cheap car really merit all the political posturing?

I agree, and when I did the exercise just a few years ago of how much my graduate degree would cost in today’s dollars, it was about that cost of a cheap car. It’s not all that hard to pay that amount off in a few years.

[catherine]

I agree, and when I did the exercise just a few years ago of how much my graduate degree would cost in today’s dollars, it was about that cost of a cheap car. It’s not all that hard to pay that amount off in a few years.

Right, but if you go to a 4-year private college and you take out loans to do it, your debt is likely to be much more--if you borrow half of your education, room and board, you are already at $80k. And, as I said, you have to be educated on the fact that the government loan programs payback terms are interest-only for years.

I think both parties are complicit: the borrowers go into it ignorantly, and the lenders go into it opportunistically.

[bae]

When I graduated in 1985, I had ~$22k in outstanding student loans. My starting salary as an engineer that year was $24k/yr. It took me some years to pay it off. For housing during those years, I was renting, my half of the rent was ~$7k/yr.

My partner’s daughter just graduated with a similar degree. She has $0 in outstanding student loans. Her starting salary as an engineer last year was ~$92k, and she received a 10% raise after 6 months. Her rent in an overpriced part of the country is ~$24k/yr for a non-shared apartment.

[LDAHL]

I think both parties are complicit: the borrowers go into it ignorantly, and the lenders go into it opportunistically.

Why blame lenders for not applying credit standards on government guaranteed loans? Why not blame government for making those standards irrelevant? Why not blame the schools for competing with students based on amenities or increasing overhead costs with elaborate bureaucracies unrelated to education itself. The DEI industry alone seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.

[bae]

I think both parties are complicit: the borrowers go into it ignorantly, and the lenders go into it opportunistically.

I find that odd. When I went to college, I had to investigate the various loan and grant options available to me, and judge between them all. It did not involve any complicated math. I would think someone going to college would be expected to understand that level of analysis.

Then again, people get ripped off all the time with auto and consumer credit because they can't do math, or they want instant gratification, or ....

[catherine]

I find that odd. When I went to college, I had to investigate the various loan and grant options available to me, and judge between them all. It did not any complicated math. I would think someone going to college would be expected to understand that level of analysis.

Then again, people get ripped off all the time with auto and consumer credit because they can't do math, or they want instant gratification, or ....

Yes, some are more prudent than others, that's for sure. That's why I would like to see systemic changes (relate to LDAHL's points), but I also believe you are responsible for your own decisions. I shared my DD's school debt with her until her husband cleaned up the last of it for just before they got married in 2020. She graduated in 2007. 13 years of debt pay-off for 4 years of schooling. She wound up as a graphic designer for strapped NGOs. (Obviously neither my DD nor I are one of the financially prudent ones)