Is the Debt Worth It?

cptofthehouse
Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:53:12 +0000

Komobu, my brother is a Tech grad, and is doing extremely well. But he would be the very first to say that it had nothing to do with VT, and to take a huge debt for that option would have been folly. A close friend is a MIT grad. When he graduated from MIT as an engineer, he was working side by side and making exactly what the engineering grads from East New Mexico Tech who did two years at CC were making. Engineering, accounting, nursing do pay good salaries and these days the jobs are there for such grads, but you aren’t doing your kid any favor saddling her with a lot of debt as compared to her peers at the first step out. You never feel poorer than when you are surrounded by those who have more, with those people being your peers.

Also the the "change in heart"on majors and courses of study are statistically very high for those taking engineering. College freshmen tend to change their minds a lot of about their majors and plans, but even those truly dedicated to the courses of the hard sciences, tech and engineering are among those who decide it’s not for them when they get a taste of the curriculum. The numbers are right there. You then have a situation where all of that debt is in hand, and then you have your liberal arts major. Take it from a veteran mom who has seen this repeatedly, not only with this generation, but with those who went to school with me, many years ago. It is a fact that engineering has a high attrition rate in undergrad studies as does the premed major. Better,. she starts out at a less expensive school, and shows her stripes and dedication and settles in with that major as a junior.

I am not adverse to loans at all, and feel they offer great flexibility and relief for many, if used wisely. But they can really ruin the financial lives of kid and family alike. We are seeing this a lot now as the cost of colleges have gone way, way up, far exceeding its proportion to income. When I took out loans many years ago, the debt that seemed so staggering was not at these numbers. My father was a civil servant, so I can look up what his pay would be today to the dollar. I can look up the cost the college I attended to the dollar too. The proportion is way off. The cost of college has sky rocketed in proportion to income to the point that a person who is making what my dad did 40 years ago would be unwise taking out the loans necessary to do so. THe same would go to an OOS public.

I just got the schedule for next year’s payment to my son’s OOS public and I have to grimace. It hurts like crazy. That the school is nice enough to offer a 12 month payment plan does force one to budget it out, but it also brings the reality of that cost to home. I have less than a month to come up with $3K and so it will be month in and month out until I finally capitulate and have to borrow. I should have the income and have some savings to put towards this, as we are high income and did save, but it still hurts. It always does.