sblake7

"My pursuit in excellent education is rooted in a value system that promotes progressive thought for the betterment of the individual as well as society.... At 25 years old, I have $188,307.22 in student debt,... I want answers and clarity as to why this happened. How did I arrive at this position in life so financially handicapped and disenfranchised?...Yet, my wants and needs are disproportionate, and I can barely afford a PB&J sandwich...I am owed answers simply because I have the right to pursue happiness."

25 and deep in debt | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

Read the whole thing.

The entitlement mentality is all too common. Students, choose a college you can afford; don't take on more debt than you can reasonably repay. Parents, teach your children about how money, loans, and debt work.

Whenever I read a student mention their "dream college," I know there's likely trouble ahead.

sylvan8798

I don't understand how she got to $188K. Miami would have been in-state for her. And at 25 it's unlikely she spent more than 2-3 years at Xavier. Why so much debt indeed.

What exactly is it that she doesn't understand about how she got here?

mom2collegekids

Bookmarked!

I sure hope that students considering taking on big debt will pay attention to her story. She has to live in her parents' basement, and she still depends on them for some things...like insurance, etc, because nearly all of her earnings are going to pay back big debt...and she has two jobs!

MommaJ

The only "answer" for this girl is that she needs to take responsibility for her stupid decisions and stop whining about her situation as if it's somehow society's fault. Blaming the easy availability of loans one's indebtedness is like someone blaming the supermarket for their morbid obesity.

dodgersmom

She admits having "over-borrowed." Since the bulk of this debt is private, cosigned loans, she probably borrowed as much as she needed not just to get by, but to live "comfortably." From the looks of it, very comfortably.

For too many students, the undergraduate (and post-graduate) years are a kind of "fantasy" time, when you're not really a grown-up yet, your only job is to be a student, and real-life concerns can come "later."

Wouldn't it make a huge difference if no student were permitted to matriculate to ANY college without having graduated from high school at least two years prior! Two years of . . . working, volunteering, you name it. In the end, it'd be two years of growing up. As it is, it's too easy for high school graduates - who've had someone else looking out for them their whole lives! - to think that someone else is STILL looking out for them. Not true for everyone, of course, but still an easy trap to fall into.

aunt bea

I agree with dodgersmom. Working and understanding that your wage has deductions! was crucial to DD. She worked as a housekeeper at Hyatt. It's hard work and the hours are long. (She also wrecked her back!) She does her own banking and always questions why things cost what they do, and calculates how many hours of making beds it would take to pay for items. THESE KIDS NEED to WORK!!!

As parents, we're doing a disservice to our kids by providing EVERYTHING. They need to get their own jobs and realize how hard it is to earn just $1000; then calculate how many hours of work it would take to earn 10 times that for their college expenses!

They also need to pay for their own activities and car expenses! Yesterday, my daughter and her "non-working" friends decided to go out to dinner at an expensive Italian restaurant. I asked DD, "how are you going to pay?" She said she had saved her tips because she "didn't want to take any money out of her school account".

The other girls apparently had asked parents for money but some were short for the bill. I asked my daughter, "did you offer to help pay?" She said: "No Mom, I work hard for my money, I couldn't afford dinner, so I had a lemonade and bread, but, there were other girls whose parents had given them extra money, so they all helped pay. Mom, you REALLY don't understand that I don't have that kind of money!"

I had to laugh because I heard myself: "Don't you understand that we don't have that kind of money?" whenever she asked for money!

swimcatsmom

The answer to this
is this
and this
Good Lord.

mom2collegekids

I don't understand how she got to $188K. Miami would have been in-state for her. And at 25 it's unlikely she spent more than 2-3 years at Xavier. Why so much debt indeed.


Well, if she borrowed about $20k per year for Miami and she borrowed $40-50k per year for Xavier (masters???), then that makes sense.

Did she get a masters at Xavier?


If she's not low income, then maybe she's "owed" answers from her parents....why they seemed to have helped so minimally, and why they (likely) co-signed or supported the idea of taking on so much debt.

Erin's Dad

Most of this is self inflicted. I guess she never actually READ the loan information she was required to about interest rate, etc.

ace550

Some kids are lucky.

My colleague (a typical middle class engineer) has this one D. She transferred to a private college in a big west coast (OOS) city after sophomore year and ended up spending $150K for two years + a gap. Then, she went for the medical school in NY with a loan of 300K. After that, her dad has to pay additional $10 K a year during her residency in a big city on the NW region. She is a smart girl and knows exactly what she can squeeze out of her parents. Her spending habit is incredible. Just a few months ago, she started planning on her wedding and her dad will need to shell out $100K to arrange the wedding in a big mid-west city. I bet that her future husband expects that his father-in-law take care of all loans. That is over $600K since college!

My colleague has mixed feelings. On one hand, he is proud of her achievement. On the other hand, he is concerned about the substantial financial liability. It is fortunately and unfortunately that he is still working at the age of 68. I hope that he and his wife won't need money for a nursing home in the future.

If you are not that lucky and manipulative, you should not try that.

4kidsdad

A typicial middle class engineer does not have $600k for any daughter.

swimcatsmom

ace550 - I think your colleague only has himself to blame.

There is this word in the English language some people need to learn - it is - wait for it........... NO!!!

4kidsdad

Should Consumer Financial Protection Bureau puts up a warning on students loans?
Such as
If you're borrowing $xx,xxx for college education, you probably will not able to pay back the loans.

momofthreeboys

No I think it's silly that we think we need "regulations" because people are stupid. The girl's parents are stupid. The girl was stupid. Whoever co-signed the loans was stupid. I agree with Aunt Bea and wonder if that girl EVER had a job. It doesn't take kids long at a real paying job to understand that they have to work an hour for a gallon of gas or 4 hours for groceries or 8 hours for a movie and a meal out or xxxxxx hours to pay tuition, books etc.

aunt bea

ACE: that girl won't repay a thing to her father because she has felt entitled to his money from day one.

Regardless of how hard he has had to work and sacrifice to finance her education and to pay for a big party, she won't feel obligated to repay.

It's not in her "job description" as a manipulative B…. . The girl won't give a crap about his being in debt. Say it with SWIMCAT: "NO!!. . . . I ain't paying jack crap for your party or your bills! I'm 68 years old and susceptible to a heart attack. The house ain't worth $600K!"