Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
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Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
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Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#2A Bachelor's degree doesn't really do that much for you these days. It's become like a high school diploma was 30 years ago (which almost no one paid for). I keep trying to advocate that people not go so far in debt for a college degree. For med school or law school (although I would argue that this is not a great investment with the current glut of law school grads) it makes sense to go into debt of that size. But I don't think you can or should justify student loans of over $10k for undergrad. Maybe you could stretch that to $20k, but I wouldn't (and didn't). If you can't afford a college don't go there.
I left college with ~$3k in student loan debt. I went to a liberal arts college that costs ~$60k a year with room and board. My family definitely could not have afforded to send me there, but I got a lot of scholarships and financial aid. I ended up with a job that had nothing to do with my education there. I value the experience I had there, but it was not worth $60k a year by any means.
There is a lot of benefit to college education, but not everyone needs to go to their dream school. Not everyone drives their dream car or lives in their dream home.
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#3$200k for journalism and media studies was a bad investment. It's a tough message, but you have to invest in education more intelligently than 'throw money at it and hope for the best'.
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#4$200k for journalism and media studies was a bad investment. It's a tough message, but you have to invest in education more intelligently than 'throw money at it and hope for the best'.
Indeed. Although I have respect for the highly educated journalists... the industry has been demolished by online blogs.
The popularity contest that is the online blogosphere is more important financially than hard work and legitimate, high-quality journalism that they teach. There's almost no money in that business anymore.
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#5$200k for journalism and media studies was a bad investment. It's a tough message, but you have to invest in education more intelligently than 'throw money at it and hope for the best'.
> you have to invest...more intelligently than 'throw money at it and hope for the best'
You do realize you're on a ycombinator website right?
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#6Never cosign a loan. There is one reason that lenders required a co-signer -- they know that the borrower is high risk for defaulting.
If you can't afford or didn't save for college, go to a cheaper school. In-state tuition and fees at most state universities is more than it used to be but still generally under $10K a year. There is no reason to go into six-digit debt for an undergraduate degee.
With very few exceptions, once you get your first job, nobody cares where you got your undergrad degree (if even then).
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#7$200k for journalism and media studies was a bad investment. It's a tough message, but you have to invest in education more intelligently than 'throw money at it and hope for the best'.
$200k for many majors is a bad investment. There are a handful of careers where that kind of education investment will pay off (technology, medical), but most will not.
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#8$200k for journalism and media studies was a bad investment. It's a tough message, but you have to invest in education more intelligently than 'throw money at it and hope for the best'.
It was $129k for the journalism degree. The $189k is the combined figure for both their sons.
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#9At this point I wonder if they're better off selling their house and moving to Mexico or something.
Re: Our sons' student debt is delaying our retirement
#10a bachelor's degree in journalism and media studies.
He's especially interested in a Hollywood career, but has found it hard to land a job there.
These folks went into debt to the tune of nearly 4x the average american pre-tax income, for a theater degree.
No, the lenders shouldn't have let them do that... but come on.