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Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

nytimes.com

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Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#111

Post by nunez »

hibikir wrote: post #67
exabrial wrote: post #44

Good Lord. There are two issues with college tuition: The first problem is people are not shopping around for a college education. There are thousands of incredible colleges around the USA that will give you the same or better education as a pricey school on the coasts. I did my easiest credits at Bulter County Community, then Wichita State University, before finishing up at Kansas State University. I only took on ab…

Shopping around for college education only makes sense if your career path doesn't take the name of the institution into account. Careers are so path dependent that landing in a worse first job can make a huge difference in lifetime earnings. See, a good engineer I know, who studied in University of Missouri Rolla. Their CS degree is not all that different from a big name, as far as curriculum is concerned, but many…

For those saying “I got into Google and went $there:” understand that you are an exception and probably worked really hard to get on their radar in the first place. The difference between Princeton and Kean is that Google goes to Princeton. That’s a huge step up.

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#112

Post by nunez »

exabrial wrote: post #108
hibikir wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shopping around for college education only makes sense if your career path doesn't take the name of the institution into account. Careers are so path dependent that landing in a worse first job can make a huge difference in lifetime earnings. See, a good engineer I know, who studied in University of Missouri Rolla. Their CS degree is not all that different from a big name, as far as curriculum is concerned, but many…

"your career path doesn't take the name of the institution into account" So basically, only applicable with Law Degrees

Not just law. (Management) Consulting. Finance. Even tech, to a lesser degree.

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#113

Post by nunez »

reverend_gonzo wrote: post #51
exabrial wrote: post #44

Good Lord. There are two issues with college tuition: The first problem is people are not shopping around for a college education. There are thousands of incredible colleges around the USA that will give you the same or better education as a pricey school on the coasts. I did my easiest credits at Bulter County Community, then Wichita State University, before finishing up at Kansas State University. I only took on ab…

The problem is a little bit more than people are paying too much for a worthless degree. It's that they are being given a loan that is backed by the US Government to get that worthless degree. If the government removes the backing and allows the free market to give loans and set interest rates, suddenly you'll see that the lowest rates will be for STEM degrees, and those who want to study music theory, art therapy, E…

If the govt did that, many many people won’t go to college, which is a terrible problem given the way we are set up.

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#114

Post by nunez »

thebradbain wrote: post #63
iterati wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't matter how technical it is, it's still pretty worthless.

I'm a CS Major, but saying a degree is "worthless" is pretty narrow-minded, no? I'd argue (at least anecdotally) that most people getting into these "worthless" degrees know they won't make a ton of money - but for them, money isn't something they particularly care about. There's more ways to define success than in terms of money.

At HN, “worthless” == “Can’t score a $100k salaried job out of college with it”

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#115

Post by nunez »

bluGill wrote: post #94
mattnewton wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a great way to cut people from disadvantaged backgrounds out of college degrees, and therefore social mobility.

Which disadvantaged? The smart person who is born poor or a minority will do just fine as their grades will carry them. Thus a bank should give them a loan - based on their high school report card. The "stupid" person regardless of background is unlikely to do well and should not get a loan.

> The smart person who is born poor or a minority will do just fine as their grades will carry them.

Spoken exactly like someone who was not poor and not a minority.

Being poor creates a network effect of issues that can keep VERY smart kids down for a long time. Being poor and having all of your relatives be poor too means you have no mentor network and very few ways out. Being poor with poor parents that are working three jobs just to afford food and shelter or aren’t working because they’ve given up (or were given up on) means that your most direct line of support is pretty much absent and that you are on your own. Very few kids make it out of this situation.

It is a very hard problem to fix.

If you WERE poor and a minority and are saying this, then you should DEFINITELY know that you were an aberration.

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#116

Post by tudelo »

EADGBE wrote: post #99
tudelo wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fixed rate that changes, right? None of my loans ever had the same percentage as the year before. Small point though.

Federal are fixed, private are often variable. Also, not sure about the 4.45%. My federal are more than that.

Hah right, a fixed loan rate which is fixed for the life of the loan. I mean that the fixed rate at which they lend changes every year :)

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#117

Post by googletazer »

matt4077 wrote: post #40
googletazer wrote: post #25

Imagine a world without ever inflating funny money, where people only buy what they need instead of junk.

The funny thing is that inflation would actually be among the easiest ways to get out of such debt.

You're right, but why cure the symptoms? Take care of the disease instead.

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#118

Post by bluGill »

EADGBE wrote: post #97
bluGill wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do think students should be able to discharge student loans in bankruptcy. However to balance it out, you lose all rights to use any schooling. Try to register for any class again and your loans are reinstated with back interest. HR departments will be required to check the blacklist to ensure that your schooling is not relevant to any position you apply or might be promoted to. (you cannot raise to something like…

HR Blacklist? Terrible idea. Just because you made a mistake 20 years ago doesn't mean you should never be allowed again. We're not talking about murder; and this is directly messing with someone's livelihood.

Then pay your tuition loans.

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#119

Post by bluGill »

mattnewton wrote: post #104
bluGill wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which disadvantaged? The smart person who is born poor or a minority will do just fine as their grades will carry them. Thus a bank should give them a loan - based on their high school report card. The "stupid" person regardless of background is unlikely to do well and should not get a loan.

I don’t think that banks should solely be in charge of who gets a chance in this country. Furthermore the myth of the good grades regardless of home life is just not realistic in my experience- many people need to grow into adulthood later because of instability, malnutrition, or the ability of the school they went to to prepare them for standardized testing.

I agree with all the objections you place. However those are different problems. Putting somebody in college from that situation will not help them. We need to give them a way better, admitting they will never be well educated, but they can bring their children to that level with the right support.

Note, this comment applies to the other poster as well.

Re: Student Debt Lawsuits Are a Lucrative Business

#120

Post by bluGill »

nunez wrote: post #115
bluGill wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which disadvantaged? The smart person who is born poor or a minority will do just fine as their grades will carry them. Thus a bank should give them a loan - based on their high school report card. The "stupid" person regardless of background is unlikely to do well and should not get a loan.

> The smart person who is born poor or a minority will do just fine as their grades will carry them. Spoken exactly like someone who was not poor and not a minority. Being poor creates a network effect of issues that can keep VERY smart kids down for a long time. Being poor and having all of your relatives be poor too means you have no mentor network and very few ways out. Being poor with poor parents that are workin…

I agree. However college will not fix the problems those people face.
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