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Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

bloomberg.com

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Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#11

Post by lallysingh »

PatientTrades wrote: post #4

There is plenty of blame to go around here. However a major cause of this has been the push by the left that college is the only path to success. Trade and vocational schools as well as military service are all great options for young adults who may not know exactly what they want to do with their life right away. Spending 4 years of your life taking on debt, simply because society tells you college is the path to su…

Huh? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09... seems pretty bipartisan.

But I agree trade schools need more respect. The kinds of work taught there is necessary and pays well.

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#12

Post by QAPereo »

PatientTrades wrote: post #4

There is plenty of blame to go around here. However a major cause of this has been the push by the left that college is the only path to success. Trade and vocational schools as well as military service are all great options for young adults who may not know exactly what they want to do with their life right away. Spending 4 years of your life taking on debt, simply because society tells you college is the path to su…

It would be hard to justify serving in the US military in terms of morality, personal risk, and long term health consequences.

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#13

Post by LeoJiWoo »

We need to cut student loans,and at the same time force tuition back down (probably by putting federal and state pressure on them by threatening to cut grants or taxing them higher).

Universities need to return to their core purpose teaching young minds, furthering science, or preparing them for jobs.

Instead of the corporate universities drowning students in debt.

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#14

Post by [deleted] »

lawlessone wrote: post #6
PatientTrades wrote: post #4

There is plenty of blame to go around here. However a major cause of this has been the push by the left that college is the only path to success. Trade and vocational schools as well as military service are all great options for young adults who may not know exactly what they want to do with their life right away. Spending 4 years of your life taking on debt, simply because society tells you college is the path to su…

>as well as military service are all great options for young adults Getting shot at for an education doesn't seem that great. Better off just moving to a better country.

[deleted]

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#15

Post by zjaffee »

duncan-donuts wrote: post #7

I wonder how educators are handling this. When I was set to graduate high school a decade ago we spent a portion of our home room hour planning our collegiate futures. I think I may have been the exception -- where my advisor stressed that we had to do something. Too often I hear that, "college is the only option." I personally never experienced that, but I wonder if educators are stressing that 4 year universities a…

People neglect to realize that a master plumber can make just as much as a software engineer should they have the skillset to be on the right kind of projects.

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#16

Post by cantankerous »

duncan-donuts wrote: post #7

I wonder how educators are handling this. When I was set to graduate high school a decade ago we spent a portion of our home room hour planning our collegiate futures. I think I may have been the exception -- where my advisor stressed that we had to do something. Too often I hear that, "college is the only option." I personally never experienced that, but I wonder if educators are stressing that 4 year universities a…

I never experienced the "only option" talk, either. My high school put forth alternative vocational tracks pretty often. Also the military, among other things. This was in the early 2000's. I'm skeptical that educators force this as the "only way" as much as it's a culturally ingrained thing now. People hear it, even if it goes unspoken.

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#17

Post by whb07 »

lawlessone wrote: post #6
PatientTrades wrote: post #4

There is plenty of blame to go around here. However a major cause of this has been the push by the left that college is the only path to success. Trade and vocational schools as well as military service are all great options for young adults who may not know exactly what they want to do with their life right away. Spending 4 years of your life taking on debt, simply because society tells you college is the path to su…

>as well as military service are all great options for young adults Getting shot at for an education doesn't seem that great. Better off just moving to a better country.

One could essentially sign up to be a librarian (bit of an exaggeration but there are active duty members who work at libraries). Same goes for Coast Guard which doesn’t get deployed in the traditional sense and are more like water police.

Ceteribus paribus, the military provides stable job, income, and a generous scholarship.

The scholarship is roughly $70-$100k depending on school and a monthly housing stipend. For SF area, that stipend is $4.2k/month

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#18

Post by aloukissas »

One statistic that's commonly left out of these discussions & articles is how late parents save for college. According to Sallie Mae (http://news.salliemae.com/publication/how-america-saves-coll...), most families don't start saving before their oldest child reaches 7 years old. This effectively robs 1/3 of the investment period's growth potential.

Another one (as perhaps a consequence of the previous fact) is that the average family ends up saving up ~$16K, while the average grad leaves colleges with an average of ~37K in debt.

As most experts in the field agree, the key winning strategy is starting to save as early as childbirth, even if it's a small amount.

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#19

Post by SimbaOnSteroids »

cm2187 wrote: post #9
murph-almighty wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a minimum, a comparison of the default rate between the two would be nice.

Default rates in good times can be very misleading (as the subprime crisis showed).

Can't you extrapolate default rates to when we don't have good times.

Re: Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market

#20

Post by cantankerous »

zjaffee wrote: post #15
duncan-donuts wrote: post #7

I wonder how educators are handling this. When I was set to graduate high school a decade ago we spent a portion of our home room hour planning our collegiate futures. I think I may have been the exception -- where my advisor stressed that we had to do something. Too often I hear that, "college is the only option." I personally never experienced that, but I wonder if educators are stressing that 4 year universities a…

People neglect to realize that a master plumber can make just as much as a software engineer should they have the skillset to be on the right kind of projects.

FWIW: It's probably easier to become a software engineer than it is to become a master plumber.
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