Forgive my student loan!

I have massive student loans that I will be paying for a long time, this is with the meager scholarships I was able to get. I do not plan on moving out of my parent's house because I cannot afford to pay rent/mortgage and student loans. I will afford gas and food and not much else. I am still in school working two jobs and I still won't be able to pay the tuition for the local state university. I can take only one class at a time because I can't pass more than one class and work two jobs. I started at the local community college, I worked through all my schooling, but couldn't make enough to cover tuition and do well in full time classes. Besides, without the STEM student status I would be working somewhere that would pay half as much. At the community college I was advised to transfer to a private college in the area if my goal is a PhD. I did that. The graduates from that school went to the top 10 programs in the country in that field. I was not informed, however, that to get tenure at a university is as likely to happen as being a pro athlete. I was also not told that this was even less likely because I am a woman. After I learned these hard truths I tried to pursue other paths, which all make about 40-50k with no further education. I don't want a big fancy house, my dream house just sold for 86k, and I am satisfied with my 96 Saturn. Had I known differently I would have chosen differently and could have saved tens of thousands of dollars doing it. It was not recommended I go to the state university because the program was laughably bad. The community college doesn't respect the MS degrees from there, now that I am there and have seen better programs, I know why. However, I can get a better job with their degree than without one.

I don't think colleges inform students to their likeliness to get jobs/graduate schools. I discovered that it is very difficult to get a job if your degree is in biochemistry, what my sister is doing. I can't convince her this is the case and that she needs to do more to get into one of the competitive graduate programs she would like to get into. The school doesn't tell her things I learned the hard way and she doesn't believe me. My degrees are in physics, so I can do a lot of things, but they aren't the pay that I was expecting. She won't have those oppurtunities.

I think that this whole topic is just very frustrating.

I graduated from a private university in 2010 with a bachelor's in psychology. Oh, and about $60k in loans that my parents signed for and now I have to pay back.

I couldn't find a worthwhile job (other than retail and nannying) after graduation and thus I decided to get my master's. At least to defer loans long enough for me to find a more substantial job.

I will graduate in December of this year with a master's in psychology. With about $30k in loans. The loans I do have do not cover all of tuition or even books.

I hope to teach at a community college or online. Surprisingly, there are a lot of these jobs available and the pay is pretty good (compared to the $10/hr I am making working as a full time nanny).

Right now I am paying on a parent PLUS loan that my father took out for me my freshman and sophomore years at undergrad. He never asked me how much money I needed for those years, and took out more than I needed. Thanks to dear old Dad and Sallie Mae, the total of my $30K plus loan will be about $60K after ten years. I'm paying on it monthly now.....but when I have to start paying the loans in MY name come May of next year, I may be SOL. While many student loans give you the option of income based repayment, the loan in my Dad's name is completely fixed. Thank god I work full time and can afford things. For now.

What I think people don't realize is that our parents and teachers have been feeding us the idea that going to college is the magical step to a well paying job. You'll have all of your dreams come true if you go to college! Unfortunately, that's not true. I know more unemployed graduates than I do people who actually have anything other than a McJob. College is NOT necessary; it's a waste of time and money.

I hope my children enjoy paying off my student loans after I die.

So basically what you are saying is you got a BS in a field of study where there are no jobs. Your solution to that was to get a MS in the same field of study?

Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results??

I have a BS in computer science. I have never been unemployed. If you have an IT degree and you are unemployed you are doing something wrong. If you are unemployed you might want to rethink your choices.

The American experiment, when this nation was created, was based on the question, "Can man rule himself?”

Let's prove that we indeed can, and not become slaves to a socialist state. That is the crux of this discussion.

But we are currently well on our way to being slaves of a capitalist state. Keeping the cost of living and advancement above the means of the average citizen creates an class system where movement is possible but rarely attainable.

The alternative -- a socialist state -- is much better. Gotta love their great results over the last century. :huh:

I believe the alternative would be somewhere in the middle.

Where has ceding more authority to centralized gov't provided more opportunities and a better quality of life?

This "terrible capitalist society" has secured liberties and opportunities for more human beings during the last couple of centuries than any other time in the history of man. It would not have been possible otherwise.

Anyone who has taken any sort of mix between business, economic, and humanities classes knows that both socialism and capitalism are severely flawed and have no long term sustainability.

Capitalism requires society to be well informed and educated in their economic purchases. There is a misrepresentation, lack of education, and other forms of manipulation that humans apply that makes capitalism create a rift between the haves and haves-not.

Socialism requires society to give up their claim on property. People have a hard time sharing and not making claims on property so socialism usually turns into a dictatorship.

Our current answers to how an economic structure should be maintained are not adequate and fighting over the small, meaningless details of each only deter from obtaining a brighter future.

I agree with everything you wrote- this is exactly the real situation for the vast majority of college students.

This is such a touchy subject....
The fact is, things keep getting more expensive while salaries increase at a less steady rate. That is a FACT!
School, cost of living, groceries, gas, cars... etc. Those are all things that cost 200-300% more than they did 15 years ago.
The average salary for a college graduate is the same as it was back in the late 70's.

A lot of us made the mistake to go to college, not worrying about the consequenses, because we are raised to believe that a college education will land us a good job with good pay and we would be able to raise a family and live happily ever after. No one predicted the recession as much as no one ever predicted we would have a black president. We went to college to learn what a rip off college actually is, and now we are stuck with enormous debt and limited opportunities.

I am a high believer in education, but I will never suggest to any high schooler to take on enormous school loans. Therefor, we are going to have a very stupid country. Even dumber than we already are.

Sadly, I doubt many people will fully understand the depth of your statement below. They are happier telling us all how they made it work while ignoring the reality of others and the massive changes in the global economy and job market, including the USA. Nor do they truly care about the long term effects of their narrow vision of "what's mine is mine" and "if it worked for me, it will work for you" (which has rarely ever been true). It will only be when they are old and dependent on a failing society of younger people (who will be less educated, having less money, and more in debt than any generations prior) that I think the full picture will finally make sense to those committed to denying reality at this moment. History is full of this dynamic- ignore reality until there isn't anything you can do about it, even if the negative consequences could be (and were) widely predicted. This is no different. This is also a reason that the U.S. has fallen dramatically below most developed nations on just about any measure. Another reality that people argue ignorantly about when the data are there and the whole world is aware of it.

I guess you and the others are missing the point. If 20-somethings cannot afford to buy houses and start families because they can't avoid massive debt, then our economy is doomed. I'll leave it at that.

LOL... there you have it. Don't rely on your parents. Just marry someone with money- at least as much as you- and, voila! You have double the earnings and can go online and tell everyone all about how "you" made it!

I'm using myself as an example here -- because I"m not THAT old. I graduated early (because it's cheaper to graduate early) BEFORE state schools waved tution for any classes you take over a full load because...kids these days, why finish? Anyways, my husband and I bought a house (we made exactly the same amount at the time) when I was 24. No help at ALL from family. 200k. I chose a school I could afford, a degree that could get me a decent job, and a husband that works. If you choose a school you can't afford, get a worthless degree, and end up with a deadbeat -- those are your choices (and consequences) to accept. Not mine.

Just like someone else said, every person I know with student loans could have reduced them if they WANTED to.

Went to university for 5 years. $30k total for the whole shebang. I worked through high school and college saving and saving. I worked on campus in the coffee shop while I went to nursing school.

Now I've graduated and I only owe $3k which will be paid off in a year.

You can crawl through a river of **** and come clean out the other side. It just takes planning and hard work (and a big *kitten* poster).

:laugh:

This is such a touchy subject....
The fact is, things keep getting more expensive while salaries increase at a less steady rate. That is a FACT!
School, cost of living, groceries, gas, cars... etc. Those are all things that cost 200-300% more than they did 15 years ago.
The average salary for a college graduate is the same as it was back in the late 70's.

A lot of us made the mistake to go to college, not worrying about the consequenses, because we are raised to believe that a college education will land us a good job with good pay and we would be able to raise a family and live happily ever after. No one predicted the recession as much as no one ever predicted we would have a black president. We went to college to learn what a rip off college actually is, and now we are stuck with enormous debt and limited opportunities.

I am a high believer in education, but I will never suggest to any high schooler to take on enormous school loans. Therefor, we are going to have a very stupid country. Even dumber than we already are.

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And thus the movie Idiocracy comes true

I haven't read every single post, and I understand how economics work, but I just want to make sure everyone understands what the bill says. It isn't "good job for going to college forget about those silly loans" it's a 10/10 plan. Under the plan, those with student loan debt will pay 10% of their income towards their loan for 10 years. So if someone graduates and starts out making 40K a year they will only pay 4k towards their loans that year. If they go up to making 60K their payments will rise as well. Many people will pay their whole loan back. The problem is that right now repayments are based on percentage of loan amount so unfortunately new graduates are making their biggest (minimum you can always pay more) payments when they are just starting off and most likely making the least they will make.

So how does a young person who is lucky to make $40K/year out of college (if they are lucky enough to find a job) supposed to pay down on their $50K student loan debt, pay their $1200/month apartment rent, while making payments on their $20K honda civic, while saving up for their $40K down payment, so they can buy their $200K townhouse before they turn 30, because heaven forbids one day they might want to actually start a family. See its almost impossible to start from scratch these days. Most of the young people cannot get out of debt without their parents' help.

First, you get a god damn reality check, a roommate, a less expensive car and apartment, and thank you lucky STARS you have a job that pays so well.

I think I just developed my first MFP crush! BRILLIANT post!!