Class of 2014.... most indebted graduates ever

[ucunc156]

maybe in 20 years people will realize sending your kids to majors that have a shit return on investment in colleges that have a shit return on investment will end, until then the bubble wont pop. Government keeps increasing the amount of loans they will give. In return, kids use loan money as spending money and colleges keep raising tuition, because why not.

 

[Lead]

Nahh, they don't make you pay them till you're finished your course.

Or if your income is lower than

 

[ucunc156]

I ended college with about 23-25k in loans. within a year and a half I had it all paid off. Ate for $250 a month and only lived at home (paid my parents $150 because they needed the money more than me). Its doable if you didn't do a shit major which doesn't pay you anything. basically if you make less than 40k, its kinda hard to bank extra money, but basically anyone can live on 40k so if you make more, it all goes towards loans if you have self control.

 

[Judo Thai Boxer]

One of the biggest pains is the interest that builds up during the time your in college. I'm not sure if yours is subsidized or not but most of mine weren't

I've got no idea, I never really looked into it.

 

[ucunc156]

One of the biggest pains is the interest that builds up during the time your in college. I'm not sure if yours is subsidized or not but most of mine weren't.

Mine weren't subsidized. I used a neat (but risky) trick. I opened out several credit cards that had 0% interest for 12-18 months. transferred the bulk of my loans onto them. Paid like 200 in balance transfer fees but it saved me like 1000-1500 on interest.

I've got no idea, I never really looked into it.

you should take a look. I had like a 5k loan from freshman year and by the time i graduated it was over 1k in interest.

 

[Lead]

I've got no idea, I never really looked into it.

I guess it doesn't matter much if you need all the income you have now but if you do have left over money, I would put some of it towards the interest. A loan that compound interest over four years can balloon on of your loans up to 25% of what it originally was when you took it out.

 

[kpt018]

I had about 30k coming out of school last year. I have it down to 25k in about a years time and should be able to get it to at least 23k by December.

You just have to live cheap. I don't shop hardly ever and I manage a $120/mth food budget. The leisure month I use is my monthly gym memberships and tournaments for BJJ.

If you can find a hobby that truly makes you happy, you really don't have to waste so much of your income.

Of course and that's what people do. Where I live, it's very common for people to continue living with their parents (until their late twenties even), bunking up with a buddy or if they live in Manhattan they rent what's basically a broom closet (and it isn't cheap).

But this is obviously bad for the economy, right? So when a kid graduates in accounting, architecture, engineering, finance, whatever, get's good grades lands a good job and still has to stall buying a home, buying a car, etc.. That's bad, right?

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

How much is interest on student loans?

 

[ucunc156]

My loan rate was 6.8% I think.

 

[OldGoat]

It's definitely a problem and one that is having negative effects on the economy (and will continue to do so).

Even the graduates who chose the marketable degrees and who obtain good professional jobs are negatively impacted. These folks are putting off the purchase of a home, buying a new car, getting married, raising a family, etc., because they already owe the equivalent of a small mortgage in student loans.

And I think a well educated society is clearly beneficial, so I really don't understand the people who think it's a good idea that kids with the ability to do well in college settle for manual labor jobs to avoid debt.

Obviously they are getting useless degrees if a job pouring coffee pays more. Says a lot about the true worth of social "sciences" and victimology studies that so many major in.

 

[Judo Thai Boxer]

I guess it doesn't matter much if you need all the income you have now but if you do have left over money, I would put some of it towards the interest. A loan that compound interest over four years can balloon on of your loans up to 25% of what it originally was when you took it out.

At the same time though I could save that cash for a bigger home when I eventually move, that way I'd end up making more money by being able to buy somewhere bigger/taking a smaller mortgage than if I'd cleared off part of my loan.

I could have paid off the majority of my loans or not taken them at all but I'm way better off from buying a place rather than renting.

 

[kpt018]

Obviously they are getting useless degrees if a job pouring coffee pays more. Says a lot about the true worth of social "sciences" and victimology studies that so many major in.

Huh? I specifically said marketable degrees and good jobs. I'm not talking about the person with $100k in student loans who majored in film study at NYU. I'm talking about the accountant with $50k in debt who works for a top firm and still has to wait 5, 10 years to buy a house, buy a new car, raise a family, etc..

5 years into their careers they have paid debt instead of saving for a down payment on a house.

 

[ucunc156]

To be honest though, there is absolutely no reason people should end college with over 30k in loans. Live at home, go to a public state schoo, and there is the option to, you know, work while in school...

 

[Anabolistair]

It's definitely a problem and one that is having negative effects on the economy (and will continue to do so).

Even the graduates who chose the marketable degrees and who obtain good professional jobs are negatively impacted. These folks are putting off the purchase of a home, buying a new car, getting married, raising a family, etc., because they already owe the equivalent of a small mortgage in student loans.

And I think a well educated society is clearly beneficial, so I really don't understand the people who think it's a good idea that kids with the ability to do well in college settle for manual labor jobs to avoid debt.

trades are well paid, more than many college jobs.

 

[dirtypablo]

Obviously they are getting useless degrees if a job pouring coffee pays more. Says a lot about the true worth of social "sciences" and victimology studies that so many major in.

I just graduated with a degree in engineering physics, and have been looking for jobs in the field. Yesterday I saw a job posting for someone with an engineering degree paying 9.50 an hour.

 

[kpt018]

trades are well paid, more than many college jobs.

Sure, and they are great jobs for many people. I think there are a lot of people that should work in the trades opposed to going to college. But none of that has to do with my point.

If we want to continue to advance as a society, we need smart folks to get good educations. That is really to address the idea that people who are capable of doing well in college and doing well in a professional will benefit society more by getting that education.

 

[ucunc156]

I just graduated with a degree in engineering physics, and have been looking for jobs in the field. Yesterday I saw a job posting for someone with an engineering degree paying 9.50 an hour.

Idk what an engineering physics degree even is... lets not mix up engineering with engineering technology and the like. no engineer is going to take a job for 9.50 an hour unless its an amazing location, their car is paid for, as is their housing.

Average wages don't really lie. They might not tell the whole story, but they certainly dont lie.

 

[dirtypablo]

To be honest though, there is absolutely no reason people should end college with over 30k in loans. Live at home, go to a public state schoo, and there is the option to, you know, work while in school...

What if you cant live at home? There is no school in your hometown? Even public state schools are expensive, and if you choose to get a degree in something that actually requires a lot of work, its not easy to work more than 20 hours a week and maintain a good gpa.

 

[ucunc156]

Sure, and they are great jobs for many people. I think there are a lot of people that should work in the trades opposed to going to college. But none of that has to do with my point.

If we want to continue to advance as a society, we need smart folks to get good educations. That is really to address the idea that people who are capable of doing well in college and doing well in a professional will benefit society more by getting that education.

That assumes that higher education is for everyone, which I definitely don't think it is. Its not really "higher" if everyone is doing it, now is it. There isn't anything wrong with not being college educated. The vast majority of real world skills aren't even learned in college. What good is all the food science and food creation, if everything you cook tastes like shit? What good is corporate finance if you can't balance your own finances? What good is learning to size distillation columns when 90% of chemical engineers will never work in the design field. College is extremely arbitrary and amounts to not much more than a prequalification. It shows you "know how to think" rather than subject material itself that you will be dealing with. Progress for progress sake is silly and doesn't benefit society imo.

 

[dirtypablo]

Idk what an engineering physics degree even is... lets not mix up engineering with engineering technology and the like. no engineer is going to take a job for 9.50 an hour unless its an amazing location, their car is paid for, as is their housing.

Average wages don't really lie. They might not tell the whole story, but they certainly dont lie.

Engineering physics isnt a watered down engineering degree like et, I would have had to take one extra physics class (an introductory computational physics class, essentially an intro to programming) to get a degree in physics, and one or two other classes to get a degree in EE. Its essentially double majoring in physics and an engineering discipline of your choice.

I know that job was not the norm, but there are low paying engineering jobs out there. That job was looking for someone with an engineering degree, not an ep degree anyways.