<p>From one of the letters to the editor:</p>
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<p>I love it!</p>
<p>I want to laugh. But then I remember that we don’t bother to teach finance in our educational system, so she probably didn’t realize that the path she was going down would lead to 200k of nondischargeable debt.</p>
<p>GAmom…</p>
<p>I’m not sure co-signers are needed for med school loans.</p>
<p>What amazes me here is that she is mostly blaming something else for her dilemma, that she feels she is owed an explanation. </p>
<p>There is no idea that she is also one who “owes”… to the bank, to her parents who are still putting a roof over her head and taking care of her. To society and to the world- as a contributor to making it a better place.</p>
<p>It’s true that she’s partially at fault here, but we can’t separate her bad decision from all the people who misled her into thinking it was a good decision. There are still people who think you should go to college at any cost, and we do deserve an explanation for why they keep saying that.</p>
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Who would that be? I’m quite confident that no one told her it was a nifty idea to get into $188K in debt.</p>
<p>Every day I’m “misled” by Burger King, Nabisco, Frito-Lay, Dairy Queen, etc. They do their best to convince me that I should eat fattening garbage whenever I’m hungry. So if I develop Type II diabetes, I should demand an explanation from them? We’re all offered poor choices on a regular basis, from excessive bank loans to drugs. It’s no one else’s fault if we say “Sure, bring it on!” I’m sorry that girl published the article–she exposed both her poor judgment and irrational thinking to the world, and now her job prospects are even worse.</p>
<p>Since she’s gone to private schools her whole life, and is now living in her parents’ basement (and they supply food, gas, etc for her), it may be safe to guess that her family isn’t low income. If they are middle-class folks with decent jobs (and intelligence) why did they let this happen???</p>
<p>When I see situations like this, I can’t help but think that the (stupid) co-signers should have to pony-up some money for paving the way for an impressionable young person to get into a situation like this. </p>
<p>Yes, the OP was a legal adult when all this borrowing was being done, but few among us have college-aged kids who truly, truly understand the impact of big debt.</p>
<p>Before Boomers throw stones, let’s think about the housing crisis. Many Boomers took out larger mortgages than they could afford and other Boomers packaged them into MBSs, leading to the housing crisis. </p>
<p>She may have an entitlement mentality, but so do many Boomers. Generation Y did not establish SS or Medicare, and neither will Generation Y likely reap any benefits even though we have to pay into SS. The majority of Boomers have little saved up for retirement due to excessive spending. Many are relying solely on SS.</p>
<p>It is difficult at 18 to understand what it is like to have debt and be adept at financial planning when many Boomers in America set a bad example.</p>
<p>sounds like a typical arrogant self aborbed holier than thou basket weaving major graduate.
I hope she does not talk or think like that in real life!</p>
<p>Many boomers *didn’t *take out larger mortgages than they could afford. To be honest, I personally don’t know anyone who did. And if someone had tried to persuade me to take out a mortgage I could not afford, I would have said no. Just like I say no to car loans I can’t afford or any other extravagances I can’t afford. My “dream” is to have a beach front house. Unless I win the lottery or a thousand plus miles of land drop off into the ocean making my current abode beach front, it’s not going to happen. Even though I really really really want it, I certainly wouldn’t borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars more than I can ever afford to repay to make my dream come true. </p>
<p>I don’t have any more sympathy for people who take out more mortgage than they can afford than I do for people who take out excessive student loans. </p>
<p>I do think there is some parental blame in this case as I assume they are the cosigners. I would not have cosigned loans that put my kids (and myself) into debt like that. My kids do have some student debt, but it is a reasonable amount. The person in the story could easily have gone to less expensive schools and not ended up in $185,000 debt.</p>
<p>True, some of our generation has not set a good example, but we weren’t born when SS was established and were too young to vote when Medicare was established.</p>
<p>I would agree that we should educate our young people more about major life decisions. We focus on academics, but managing relationships, marriage, managing finances, and many other things have a large impact on people’s lives. </p>
<p>I would say most of us are guilty of contributing to consumerism. I also see the places on college websites that say “yes, you can afford college”. This probably means "Can you afford this college? " I think at one point, college was less expensive and people graduated with better chances of employment. That has changed. Since most 18 year olds have not managed a household or a large budget, they could easily be misled.</p>
<p>Still, having done this, the student is responsible for her decisions. Her parents are helping by providing room and board, insurance, and other needs, but perhaps they also want her to gain responsibility by having her repay the loan. The tone of the article is what she is owed. Fine, but I would like to have seen her write about what she learned, and instead of demanding that someone inform students, perhaps she can share her wisdom by writing informative articles too.</p>
<p>Here is what this reminds me of…I saw one of those Suze Orman shows once where a couple was deep in debt and wondered how they got there. They had bought a home that they really couldn’t afford but according to the bank they could. In fact, there was an interview with some bank person saying "you can afford “x”. Suze set them straight. After all, they needed to eat too! They had an out–they downsized by selling their home and buying something more within their means.
The problem is that education can’t be sold to recoup your money. But there are “bank officers” telling students it is affordable when it is not. They listen to someone who appears to be an authority when the real authority should be your own “reality check” with a pencil, paper and calculator.
And “NO” works too!</p>
<p>I think you’re severely overestimating the quality of financial education people get. In a society where “how much can I afford to take out as a mortgage” is considered an arcane calculation only financial planners can do, most people probably don’t realize they can do a reality check on things like student loan plans.</p>
<p>We live in Chicago, which has a lousy Chicago-run community college system with an embarassing low graduation rate and student performance record, and an expensive overly-selective flagship university that denies admission to many very qualified upper middle-class students. Somewhere in between thee are several middling land-grant colleges and UoI Chicago-Circle campus, with low graduation rates, many relatively underperforming students, enormous low-level class sizes, etc. A solid B+ student, coming from a middle-class non-URL family, without varsity-caliber sports capabilities, has few “inexpensive” quality college options here. That student would be relatively unchallenged at our land-grant colleges, not assured a spot at UIUC, and wouldn’t receive financial aid grants at these public schools. Flagship’s COA is around $35,000 for in-state students. Private schools (2nd tier) may give $10,000 in merit money and a little financial aid, but parents still face a $35,000+ annual cash outlay obligation.</p>
<p>So we know plenty of B+ middle-class college students signing-up for loans, and it’s not unusual for kids to have $50,000 to $80,000 in debt upon graduation. And even administrative assistants usually have a college degree here, so the notion of “no college” is a non-starter. Likewise, “have the kid work thru school” doesn’t apply anymore, unless the kid resorts to illegal activity to raise the cash. And for many college students, a 4-year bachelor degree often actually takes 5 years, if not six plus, as the “4-year vs 6-year” graduation rates clearly illustrate for many undergraduate programs at both private and public colleges. Many parents don’t factor in that extra $70,000 to $100,000. </p>
<p>The girl in the article is brave to expose herself to ridicule. Who knows what her specific circumstances were.</p>
<p>I think one of the problems is that too many students (and some parents) think that the college selection process is like when a child sits on Santa’s lap and gives his wish list. Cost isn’t a concern. What Santa-sitting child wonders how all his wants are going to be paid for? </p>
<p>We see it all the time here. Students looking far and wide at colleges that they have no means of paying for. They often don’t have enough “need” or the stats for the school that give great aid, or they don’t have the stats for the schools that give big merit scholarships. However, they aren’t deterred. They believe they have some God-given right to go away to the school of their choice and that somehow costs will get covered. </p>
<p>Maybe because when they are sitting at the school lunch tables everyone is talking about going away to some fun-sounding place…Calif, NY, Hawaii…anywhere but their local commuter school which may be really their only affordable choice.</p>
<p>And, their HS GC’s and the colleges themselves speak fondly about big FA pkgs that make colleges affordable. Then the FA pkgs come and often there are big gaps and then the student appeals to the parents to co-sign big loans.</p>
<p>After I retire I hope to develop a course called Finance 101 for high school seniors.</p>
<p>It’s time to introduce College Confidential to the ultimate in loan stories.</p>
<p>He graduated law school. He never got a law job. He’s deep in non-discharagable debt. He’s an aspiring blogger/novelist. And he’s good with a paintbrush!</p>
<p>He’s JD Painterguy!</p>
<p>A Touro law graduate who financed his education with a $69,000 loan in 1996 says he’ll owe more than $1.5 million by the time he retires in 23 years.</p>
<p>John Koch, now 46, was unable to pass the New York bar exam, despite three tries, according to Cable News Channel 12 (sub. req.). He has worked as a compliance manager, an insurance agent and a painter. He is also a law school scamblogger who uses the pseudonym JDPainterGuy, Legal Skills Prof Blog reports. The video is posted at YouTube.</p>
<p>[Law</a> Grad’s Ballooning Student Debt Will Exceed $1.5M by the Time He Retires - News - ABA Journal](<a href=“Law Grad's Ballooning Student Debt Will Exceed $1.5M by the Time He Retires”>Law Grad's Ballooning Student Debt Will Exceed $1.5M by the Time He Retires)</p>
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<p>M2CK, med school students can borrow up to $42,500 per year without a cosigner. If this girl was taking out $75,000 per year for med school somebody was having to cosign for the additional $32,500 per year.</p>
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<p>He can use IBR, pay 15% of his income, and get all of his loans wiped out in 25 years. He will have to pay a tax on the amount wiped out, but it’s not the end of the world.</p>
<p>Same with the girl in this article. She could just get on IBR and wipe out her loans. </p>
<p>The federal government’s loan system is responsible for the soaring costs of college tuition and the student loan mess, and IBR is a very small way of addressing it.</p>
<p>In a way, I sympathize with these students. The media, parents, and Boomers push education onto children without properly addressing the implications of taking out loans. The loan program led to soaring tuition, which they felt were reasonable due to the importance of getting a college degree. The entire system is a mess.</p>
<p>IBR is only for federal loans, not private loans (the girl in the original story had mostly private loans).</p>