Student Loan Debt?

[Hay Dude]

Yep -- I taught and still live in a small logging community. Most loggers don't want their kids to work in the woods but also don't get college because they think it's supposed to be a jobs program. The thing college does is puts a kid from a small community in touch with people, ideas and career potentials that are never going to come to their town looking for them.

Our fore fathers worked hard to make it affordable to the average person because those people, our parents and grandparents, saw education as a way up. When Reagan became POTUS, he started cutting federal support to higher ed. The same higher ed that had helped move this country to the top post WW2. When the public pushed back, the solution was to have the govt subsidize loans and run them through private industry (banks). Later, the conservatives decided that parents should be paying for their kids' higher ed, not students trying to work to pay for it. That allowed for costs to be well beyond what any normal 18-22 yr old could pay for even with a full time job.

Maybe because too many now go to college. We have more unemployed college kids waiting tables, wheelbarrowing mulch and sitting in their parents basements now more than ever in this “great economy”

 

[kenmac]

I will answer for my own case and most people in my profession, which is the same for many professions. Why spend money going to college instead of making more money with more lucrative jobs? Because we enjoy our chosen field of study and want to make it profession. Most of us work 40+ years in our careers and we want to spend those years doing something we find interesting and enjoy. Making the most money isn’t all there is to life.

Well, college isn't for everyone. It wasn't for me. I just got into the trades early on, started a business. I can say I made good money and I actually liked what I did. There is a level of satisfaction you get by figuring out issues, repairing/ installing equipment.

Having said that, My hospital administrator son had zero interest in learning the HAVC/Plumbing business, and that was ok. He enjoys what he does, and makes pretty good $$ doing it. For now, when he has problems with his HVAC/ Plumbing, I can help him out because he just doesn't have that knowledge to be able to repair things. Now, when I leave this ground, he'll have to start paying someone for those services.

It isn't bad thing to go to college, or opt for some other profession. The world needs all types of folks to make the world go around.
Heck, we even need the law breakers and crooks !! If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't need cops ! LOL

 

[jyoutz]

Well, college isn't for everyone. It wasn't for me. I just got into the trades early on, started a business. I can say I made good money and I actually liked what I did. There is a level of satisfaction you get by figuring out issues, repairing/ installing equipment.

Having said that, My hospital administrator son had zero interest in learning the HAVC/Plumbing business, and that was ok. He enjoys what he does, and makes pretty good $$ doing it. For now, when he has problems with his HVAC/ Plumbing, I can help him out because he just doesn't have that knowledge to be able to repair things. Now, when I leave this ground, he'll have to start paying someone for those services.

It isn't bad thing to go to college, or opt for some other profession. The world needs all types of folks to make the world go around.
Heck, we even need the law breakers and crooks !! If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't need cops ! LOL

A very good summation. Our society needs good tradesmen, scientists, engineers, medical professionals, and even (some) attorneys. Chefs, trash collectors, ect… Everyone should pursue their own dreams and interests and we need all occupations. Except we can do without the crooks.

 

[MossRoad]

Does your SIL have a really good job? Because being a vet isn't all that lucrative.

He's got several really good offers on the table. He'll be fine.

 

[MossRoad]

I have Univ. of Pennsylvania’s “New Bolton Center” right near me.
Amazing place. Hundreds of acres of sprawling campus farmland. Maybe 100 students there. They do surgical procedures on lions, giraffes, elephants, race horses, etc.

Yep. Kid had an interview with them last week.

 

[MossRoad]

What job can you (or I) do as an 18 yr old straight out of HS that's going to pay me as much as the increase in my earning potential is after going to college? I worked part time through college and paid my way through because it was cheap enough to be able to do that. As a science major, there was no way to work ft and get through, due to labs etc. Today --- no way to do that.

Our kids went to Purdue and met a LOT of engineering students. Almost to a T, every one of them had summer jobs at large corps and were offered jobs before they graduated, most with six figure starting salaries. Crazy.

 

[MossRoad]

... The world needs all types of folks to make the world go around...

Yep!

 

[bunchgrass]

I'll give you a better example than myself because I did not go to law school. I have a friend who was put through college and law school by a law firm whose name partner saw the potential in this guy. They paid him to work for them during summers and as he could while atending school. They knew he was very smart and a very hard worker. They put him to work as soon as he got out of school. His name is now the first name of the firm. All in a small Texas town.

Again --- not all students are going to be lawyers or engineers and that's a good thing.

Take a page out of some UK education - my SIL signed on with PWC (Price Waterhouse Cooper) after he finished his undergrad British equivalent. PWC paid him and educated him, including paying for his food, lodging and transportation when he had to travel to the city wher the classes were being taught. In return, he had to pass each level of exams with an 80% or better or you're out of the program right there. Three years like that and if you make it, you have a job with them. Then you can move anywhere in the world they have offices.

 

[bunchgrass]

Maybe because too many now go to college. We have more unemployed college kids waiting tables, wheelbarrowing mulch and sitting in their parents basements now more than ever in this “great economy”

Again - not true. The college enrollments are dropping and every school is competing for students. Catch up.

 

[jyoutz]

Our kids went to Purdue and met a LOT of engineering students. Almost to a T, every one of them had summer jobs at large corps and were offered jobs before they graduated, most with six figure starting salaries. Crazy.

Engineering students also have some fantastic options. I saw an announcement posted at a local university from the Navy. They have a program where if a student enlists in the Seabees (a civilian engineering corps attached to the Navy), the Navy will pay all college expenses and provide a generous monthly salary while they are in school. In exchange, they have to serve for 5 years in the Seabee Corps after graduation. I’m sure that these people could make a lot more than a Navy salary in private industry, but what a chance to get a free degree and good experience.