Student loans and bankruptcy

[stinkcat_14]

Part of the blame lies on parents in my opinion. Parents really ought to advise their children to avoid debt when they are young as much as practical. I mean what parent would encourage their child to go to a $50k per year school when the nearby community college will provide the same education for 10% of that cost?

 

[signit]

Yes, and of course they also snub their noses at the idea of applying to enlist in one of the military services, and going to college after the enlistment term, using the GI bill benefits. They will have some real world experience, will have done some maturing, and have financial help for college, if they choose to attend college.

Not only that, but it’s the type of experience civilian employers prefer. I’ve seen employers have a bidding war over the applicant with military experience.

If they “snub their noses” at the military option they might be missing out on a real advantage.

18 year olds are technically adults but are still very young. They also tend to have very limited information about how the real world works - and many my age can attest that the story we got from our parents and teachers and professors turned out to not match up very well with what we found out later on.

This part of the quote is so true it ought to be framed.

Don’t forget about the misinformation from other 18 year olds.

Part of the blame lies on parents in my opinion. Parents really ought to advise their children to avoid debt when they are young as much as practical. I mean what parent would encourage their child to go to a $50k per year school when the nearby community college will provide the same education for 10% of that cost?

Because parents buy into the hype (from my earlier posts) as well.

And parents want to put the decal with the big name school name on their car. They want to brag about how their son or daughter is going to the big name school.

 

[mikekle]

Not only that, but it’s the type of experience civilian employers prefer. I’ve seen employers have a bidding war over the applicant with military experience.

If they “snub their noses” at the military option they might be missing out on a real advantage.

This part of the quote is so true it ought to be framed.

Don’t forget about the misinformation from other 18 year olds.

Because parents buy into the hype (from my earlier posts) as well.

And parents want to put the decal with the big name school name on their car. They want to brag about how their son or daughter is going to the big name school.

Some great points.

Whats strange is, any manager or CEO does indeed strive to hire those with military experience, so in this regard they think highly of it, but when it comes to their OWN kids, when they reach 18 years of age, I doubt their first choice for them would be military… Doesnt make sense??

 

[stinkcat_14]

Because parents buy into the hype (from my earlier posts) as well.

And parents want to put the decal with the big name school name on their car. They want to brag about how their son or daughter is going to the big name school.

I agree that the parents buy into the hype. I think part of the problem is that college in general has been pretty profitable for graduates, so it is seen as a good investment historically. But things are changing. College is getting very expensive and not all degrees are equally valuable.

I know parents who want their kids to go to big name schools. It is one thing if you can afford it, but to burden your kids with debt because of you want status is pretty selfish, IMHO.

 

[didymus]

I wonder too if the money pumped into the system hasn’t caused a rise in tuition, at least partly.
Also I’d love to see a breakdown of the money spent on actual education (profs, classrooms, labs) vs. administrators, “diversity” trainers, &c.

One reason a college degree is a good investment is that many places require a bachelors even for jobs that really don’t require it. I didn’t finish college but I worked at a shelter for homeless families for years. They hired bachelors whose degrees had nothing to do with social work.
And not to be immodest, I’m smarter than a lot of people with BA degrees, or at least much more widely read and I can beat the pants off them at spelling and grammar.

 

[signit]

I know parents who want their kids to go to big name schools. It is one thing if you can afford it, but to burden your kids with debt because of you want status is pretty selfish, IMHO.

I have two minds on this one.

If you can afford it, other things being equal, go for the big name school. I don’t deny it might have some advantages.

But if the big name school means mountains of debt, it might be a bad gamble.

Whats strange is, any manager or CEO does indeed strive to hire those with military experience, so in this regard they think highly of it, but when it comes to their OWN kids, when they reach 18 years of age, I doubt their first choice for them would be military… Doesnt make sense??

The manager or CEO is able to provide their kid class privileges (employment contacts, etc.) and maybe thinks their kid doesn’t need that advantage.

I’ll never forget the conversation I had with someone at the reunion whose son has never wanted anything to be a Navy pilot, and she “can’t talk him out of it.” It’s something upscale people think is great for somebody else’s kid.

 

[DarkLight]

I have two minds on this one.

If you can afford it, other things being equal, go for the big name school. I don’t deny it might have some advantages.

But if the big name school means mountains of debt, it might be a bad gamble.

It also depends somewhat on your field. I know with me planning to stay in academia, community college really can limit your chances - because you need to go to grad school and many grad schools don’t want to take students from schools that are perceived as less rigorous.

 

[signit]

It also depends somewhat on your field. I know with me planning to stay in academia, community college really can limit your chances - because you need to go to grad school and many grad schools don’t want to take students from schools that are perceived as less rigorous.

I went to a big name business school for my master’s.

I’m convinced it does provide advantages in terms of contacts and networking opportunities. It also has on-campus resources that would be hard to find anywhere else.

But, as you say, it might or might not be worth the money.

I was told that for chemical engineering, the big state school is just as good for that as the big name school. Employers want somebody who knows chemical engineering, and chemical engineering is no different at one school from what it is at another.

 

[stinkcat_14]

It also depends somewhat on your field. I know with me planning to stay in academia, community college really can limit your chances - because you need to go to grad school and many grad schools don’t want to take students from schools that are perceived as less rigorous.

I think it also depends on the field you plan to go into. In the business disciplines, a community college is not likely to hurt you unless you want to go to one of the really elite graduate schools. If you want to go to Harvard for graduate schools it helps to have a degree from a good undergraduate college.

 

[stinkcat_14]

I have two minds on this one.

If you can afford it, other things being equal, go for the big name school. I don’t deny it might have some advantages.

But if the big name school means mountains of debt, it might be a bad gamble.

I agree that in some cases, a big name school can be profitable. However, there are also no name schools that charge just as much as the big name schools with no corresponding additional benefit. Those are the places where parents really need to have their heads examined.

 

[signit]

I agree that in some cases, a big name school can be profitable. However, there are also no name schools that charge just as much as the big name schools with no corresponding additional benefit. Those are the places where parents really need to have their heads examined.

Oh yes, I know that situation well; I went to one of those for my undergrad.