Student loans

mindserve

I just want to get a pulse on student loans. How many of you in the USA have huge student loans and are struggling to pay them? For those of you NOT in the USA, how do you pay for higher education. Well, I should say to anyone who has student debt in the USA and is in trouble there might be help on the way. You can go to forgivestudentloandebt dot com and find the facebook link and join. It might help you or give you some insight if you don't understand the tuition issues students now face.

S Houghtelin

My advice, don't pick a career where you will end up struggling to repay the loan. All mine are paid off. :-D

It was broke, so I fixed it.

Albert Holguin

...or don't pick a school with ridiculous rates... there's plenty of state universities that have affordable tuitions (although those seem to go up every year too, grrr!)

mindserve

That pretty much means every career. How do you pay for college tuition today when it can run six figures.??

Nish Nishant

Higher education is cheap in most of the 3rd world. As an example, most private engineering colleges in Kerala, India have annual fees ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 INR (approx 1000-2000 USD).

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

Nish Nishant

Or be a doctor or something. The loans are huge but you can pay them off in 2 years or so and also drive that Porsche while you pay it off.

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

W Balboos GHB

Could you put that in more normalized terms: how much of (or many) years of average income to pay for that? Pricing alone isn't enough to determine the true cost of higher education.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert

"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

S Houghtelin

Albert Holguin wrote:

don't pick a school with ridiculous rates

There is that... :) And there is this... My brother's former wife was one of those "Went back to school" to get a better life students. She went to one of those cosmetology schools to learn how to paint finger nails. Yep, there is a struggle to repay the loan. She says my brother should pay for it because she can't find a job. My brother says no, not his responsibility. Blah blah blah. The end result? US taxpayers pay for the defaulted student loan. :mad:

It was broke, so I fixed it.

mindserve

Doctors don't make that kind of money..not new ones anyway. Guess tuition is low enough in India where everyone can afford it. Well, almost everyone.

mindserve

The taxpayer only has to pay it back on federal loans. Private student loans the lenders take the burden. But even on a student loan that was federally backed the government makes money when the loan defaults. They capitalize the interest on the loan and most end up paying it back, and the government for decades. Sometimes for life.

Nish Nishant

W∴ Balboos wrote:

Could you put that in more normalized terms: how much of (or many) years of average income to pay for that?

Pricing alone isn't enough to determine the true cost of higher education.

Today, an engineering graduate in Kerala would make between INR 30,000 to 60,000 a month on his first job. If he keeps his expenses low, he should be able to pay off a 200,000 loan in an year or so. Funnily, most kids won't have to do that because traditionally Indian parents pay for their kids' college education (even the lower-middle class parents). This is changing though and kids born after 2000 or so will find that they can't depend on their parents paying off their loans as their parents did :-)

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

AspDotNetDev

I'm not "struggling" to pay them, but I graduated with something like $25K in student loans (when I was 21). I'm on the graduated repayment plan, so the amount I pay each month increases something like every 2 years. That means my monthly payment will grow over time, but so will my salary. Once my car is paid off (in about a year), I should be able to start paying off my debts faster than the minimum amount required. I expect I'll have all my debts (student loans, car, credit cards, credit lines) paid off by the time I'm 31 (perhaps sooner, depending on how my salary changes).

Somebody in an online forum wrote:

INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.

Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

I had a job to pay for my schooling in the USA. In-State tuition is really very affordable. Housing is what gets you but we all have to pay that anyway. Yes, yes, I admit, I went to a State College.

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Nish Nishant

mindserve wrote:

Guess tuition is low enough in India
where everyone can afford it. Well, almost everyone.

Well the ones that can afford internet are those that could afford the fees too I guess. The other 70% who don't have electricity, regular meals, or a roof above their head, well do they even count in these online discussions?

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

Nish Nishant

mindserve wrote:

Doctors don't make that kind of money..not new ones anyway.

I agree. I guess once they are into their 30s, that's when they start hitting the 200K+ mark. Although, most of them know this will happen and so start spending lavishly early on.

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

mindserve

Most student loans can go on for 20-25 years. Much longer than most jobs go on. Economies change, lives change. No , pricing alone isn't the best way to determine the true cost of higher education. How about evaluating the standard of living after graduation?

realJSOP

I got my programminig degree from the Jolly Fats School of Medicine and Laundromat Repair. It took two weeks (mostly waiting for the check to clear) and cost just $47 (counting postage and handling fees). If you ignore the fact that the diploma they set me looks very much as if it was written out by hand (and they mispelled the word "diploma"), it's all very offical looking. I think it was $47 (including postage and handling fees) very well spent. EDIT ====================== I forgot to mention that I did this back in 1992, and I very nearly have the loan paid off. Just 17 more months to go, and I'll be free and clear.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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AspDotNetDev

My college education was supposedly six figures, but I got a bunch of scholarships and grants that paid off the majority of it (aside from about $25K in loans). Though that really does depend on the college. Community colleges are much cheaper.

Somebody in an online forum wrote:

INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.

W Balboos GHB

Could I eliminate an assumption? That the income paying off the lone is science/engineering. What about a more mundane major - or are there no others? Or, couching this in different terms: the income of the typical Indian family, i.e., what I will presume is sending their first child for higher education. For example of the information I'm seeking: in the USA, it is said the average family income is ca. $50,000, but a year at a university (with room & board) may run in the vicinity of $40,000, or 80% of a families gross annual income. Too much for the vast majority under normal circumstances.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert

"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

mindserve

I think the USA will be the next 3rd world country. 1/2 of people in the US live in poverty. At least according to a recent census. Student loan debt in this country exceeds credit card debt. It's now at 1 trillion dollars.