The Parent PLUS Loan Shell Game

sk8rmom
Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:48:22 +0000

^I don’t think it’s irresponsible unless the student is just throwing money at a “dream school”, with little/no prospect of being able to repay the debt. I didn’t mean to imply that I thought your D had made an irresponsible choice, only that I was confused that a single year would be that expensive! I think the reasons she had for choosing the private school were valid, she was clearly willing to assume a larger debt as a tradeoff, and will be entering a high demand field with a decent earning potential. Others would take their chances with the lower cost program and cross the grad school bridge when they come to it, perhaps feeling that students often change their majors or that the individual student will be a strong candidate for the professional program. I don’t think one approach is better than the other, as it depends on the individual student/family and their situation and preferences.

That being said, for certain careers/fields of study, I think it would be wiser to take the lowest debt alternative, even if it means starting at a CC or working for a few years to save, in order to avoid having to live like a student indefinitely! Or even majoring in something that may not be their “calling” and having a minor in the field they’re really interested in…there’s always grad school for that if one can’t find another entry point into the field.