College Confidential - View Single Post - man commits suicide

joecollegedad · 09-26-2007, 01:13 PM

bdmrad said--
tragic, but I doubt the loans were his only problem.

The student's mom said--
Jason is dead...<of the loan company>... "You are part of the reason he took his own life.''

This thread is related to that other cc thread about the student who 'does not want to pay back her loans' after choosing a fancy LAC and majoring in anthro, I believe. It has brought out similar responses: the people who indict the system, people who blame the student, and people who blame the parents.

One thing that is different is that in this case, the parents did not step in and bail the student out (probably did not have the means). For all those who advise a 'tough love' approach to these kinds of things, please see a distinct end state of that approach. The stakes are high. Even for a state school, ISU's *avg* indebtedness is $17k, I believe. This person probably did not have have as much means as the *avg*, so carried a higher debt.

In the end, realistic self knowledge, especially of financial means to pay for college, BEFORE the ball starts rolling and gets out of control, is especially indicated.

----But such calm rational analysis is very difficult: there is a hyper competitive job market staring at a student, costs of the response to that hyper competition - higher education - going WAY above inflation, AND without a proper, proportionate support by that which has a compelling interest to educate the most people that can be educated, the State.

09-26-2007, 01:13 PM	#36
joecollegedad Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 530	bdmrad said-- tragic, but I doubt the loans were his only problem. The student's mom said-- Jason is dead...<of the loan company>... "You are part of the reason he took his own life.'' This thread is related to that other cc thread about the student who 'does not want to pay back her loans' after choosing a fancy LAC and majoring in anthro, I believe. It has brought out similar responses: the people who indict the system, people who blame the student, and people who blame the parents. One thing that is different is that in this case, the parents did not step in and bail the student out (probably did not have the means). For all those who advise a 'tough love' approach to these kinds of things, please see a distinct end state of that approach. The stakes are high. Even for a state school, ISU's avg indebtedness is $17k, I believe. This person probably did not have have as much means as the avg, so carried a higher debt. In the end, realistic self knowledge, especially of financial means to pay for college, BEFORE the ball starts rolling and gets out of control, is especially indicated. ----But such calm rational analysis is very difficult: there is a hyper competitive job market staring at a student, costs of the response to that hyper competition - higher education - going WAY above inflation, AND without a proper, proportionate support by that which has a compelling interest to educate the most people that can be educated, the State. Last edited by joecollegedad; 09-26-2007 at 01:32 PM.
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