Survey Indicates Students Clueless about Student Loan Debt

[unokitty]

From Robert Reich,
"
... this can’t go on. If unemployment stays high for many years, if the wages of young college grads continue to fall, if the costs of college continue to rise and state and local spending per college student continues to drop, and if the college debt burden therefore continues to explode – well, you do the math."

From Robert Reich to New College Grads: 'You're F*cked' The Commencement Address that Won't be Given.

Uno

 

[Imp]

University of Arizona
$9,200 in state
$25,500 out of state.

First off, WHY ON EARTH would you go out of state, vs. moving to Arizona for a year and working to get the in-state rate, PLUS some money in the bank?

Second, U of Arizona is #49 in engineering and #128 overall (US News & World Report). Not horrible, but not outstanding either. Can you get in anywhere better?

What about your home state school, are they any good?

Geeez.... You guys have exhorbitant rates for students just for being "out of state"?

That stigma's only reserved for international students here, as far as I know.

 

[Wreckem]

Geeez.... You guys have exhorbitant rates for students just for being "out of state"?

That stigma's only reserved for international students here, as far as I know.

To my knowledge almost every public university has an out of state rate. Most also waive that out of state rate if you get a scholarship of $1000 or more.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

A couple months ago I asked my (sophomore university) students to calculate the total cost of owning a $90/month smartphone for four years if paid with PLUS student loans at 7.9% over a 20 year period. Half of them couldn't do it, the other half were shocked it ended up being almost $9,000. All of them had taken at least calculus 1, but a simple interest calculation was beyond them.

Fortunately, a few have told me since that they got rid of their smartphone and got an iPod Touch - considering you can walk from one of our campus to the other and not drop from the wifi network.

What's truly sad is that this type of basic financial competence is not taught at the K-12 level. ...It's almost as if the powers that be don't want a financially savvy populace.

That is because they don't. They want people to pay 3, 5, 100 times the actual value of the item for their loan money and "creative services". Welcome to America. The real problem is the people holding all the money value it a million times more than the rest of us who just want to live our lives.

 

[Bignate603]

Geeez.... You guys have exhorbitant rates for students just for being "out of state"?

That stigma's only reserved for international students here, as far as I know.

If your universities are funded on the federal level (federal tax money going to support the university) it's the same principle.

Our publicly funded universities typically get funded by state taxes. People in the state pay to fund the university through their state taxes, so people that are from the state can get in cheaper. People from out of state haven't paid the taxes to support the university so they don't get that benefit.

You can game the system somewhat by looking at what it takes to be declared a state resident for purposes of tuition. In AZ when my wife had to prove she was a resident for grad school we had to show we were residents for a certain period and that we were financially independent (no one from outside the state was paying our living expenses). That was no problem for us because we had been living in AZ for years and I was working a full time job as an engineer.

 

[Bignate603]

Is an computer, aeronautical or electrical engineering degree that cost $25000 a year worth it at university of arizona?

Probably not. U of A is not a bad school at all. However, at $25k a year you have options in that price range that could be better. If you could get the in state tuition though that would be a great value.

 

[AMCRambler]

1 in 8 thought the money was free? Hahaha. Either that or they just let their parents handle it. "Here son, sign this.".

Parents helped with my tuition, plus I worked part time through school, full time during the summers and over break. When I graduated I owed about $10k.

Lived at home for 4 years after school, paid rent and I paid that crap off. When I moved out I had banked a significant chunk of change. Rented an apartment and bought myself a nice $20k car in cash. No debt till I got married and bought the house.

That's how I did it and that's how my kids are going to do it. None of this racking up $120k in loans bullshit to get a BA in art history. Their ass is gonna work and they're going to spend their hard earned money on their education.

 

[Leros]

I had a similar situation happen to me. Ever check your credit score b/c that? Mine was down 150pts just because I had so many "open" accounts. When I was going to grad school I had private and federal loans, every semester I had 2 of each loans issued, through 7 semesters I had 14 loans plus another 2 from undergrad.

Nope. My credit score is fantastic. Other than a credit card I spent $20 a month on, I didn't really do anything to improve it either.

 

[unokitty]

New Normal: Majority Of Unemployed Attended College

"For the first time in history, the number of jobless workers age 25 and up who have attended some college now exceeds the ranks of those who settled for a high school diploma or less."

"Among everyone up to age 24 who has left college or earned a two-year degree — including those not actively searching — the full-time employment-to-population ratio has plummeted from 69% in 2000 to 62% in 2003 to 54%.

This has occurred even as student lending and enrollment at community colleges has soared, elevating the student loan crisis to the center of political debate and a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement."

Uno

 

[shortylickens]

Yup. I'm only going to school cuz I cant get work.
And my last two jobs were glad to have me sans degree.

 

[Jeff7]

New Normal: Majority Of Unemployed Attended College

"For the first time in history, the number of jobless workers age 25 and up who have attended some college now exceeds the ranks of those who settled for a high school diploma or less."

"Among everyone up to age 24 who has left college or earned a two-year degree — including those not actively searching — the full-time employment-to-population ratio has plummeted from 69% in 2000 to 62% in 2003 to 54%.

This has occurred even as student lending and enrollment at community colleges has soared, elevating the student loan crisis to the center of political debate and a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement."

Uno

I wonder how the proportions have shifted in terms of degrees that are useful for employment versus people who majored in "I went to college for something"?


And it sucks that learning a trade seems to have such a stigma - "The dumb kids go to tech school or trade school," that sort of thing. Until we get intelligent, capable, and ubiquitous robots (give it time😉), we'll still need people who are skilled at plumbing, construction, landscaping, and so forth.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

University of Arizona
$9,200 in state
$25,500 out of state.

First off, WHY ON EARTH would you go out of state, vs. moving to Arizona for a year and working to get the in-state rate, PLUS some money in the bank?

Second, U of Arizona is #49 in engineering and #128 overall (US News & World Report). Not horrible, but not outstanding either. Can you get in anywhere better?

What about your home state school, are they any good?

FWIW, I looked into doing this in ~2003 and the residency requirements were so ridiculous that I would have never been able to get it.

First of all, in Arizona, Everyone defaults to out of state status even if you were born there. Living and working for a year in Arizona does NOT confer in state status. They want a business, resident family, job offer after graduation or other proof you intend to stay in the state after graduating.

 

[KeithP]

Well, my oldest graduates in two weeks and has absolutely 0 aspirations of going to college. In fact, he "knows some guys" that are going to get him a job in construction. Construction! of all things, in today's environment! LMAO!

If he speaks fluent Spanish he might do quite well. 😉

The problem is simple really...if schools spent more time teaching and less time indoctrinating we would have fewer problems of this this nature.

-KeithP

 

[Udgnim]

who does their FAFSA and who signs off on the loan documentation?

I understood student load debt before entering college.

 

[nelnetdesiree]

Saint Nick, any time a payment is recieved at Nelnet it is applied in the order of outstanding fees and interest, and then principal. Please give us a call if you have any questions about your statement, we would be happy to help. 1.888.486.4722.

 

[highland145]

Saint Nick, any time a payment is recieved at Nelnet it is applied in the order of outstanding fees and interest, and then principal. Please give us a call if you have any questions about your statement, we would be happy to help. 1.888.486.4722.

IPODS please.

 

[jagec]

First of all, in Arizona, Everyone defaults to out of state status even if you were born there. Living and working for a year in Arizona does NOT confer in state status. They want a business, resident family, job offer after graduation or other proof you intend to stay in the state after graduating.

LOL...the school isn't really good enough to justify that kind of hassle. Why wouldn't the good students go to better state schools in areas where it isn't quite as difficult to establish residency?

 

[Harvey]

Saint Nick, any time a payment is recieved at Nelnet it is applied in the order of outstanding fees and interest, and then principal. Please give us a call if you have any questions about your statement, we would be happy to help. 1.888.486.4722.

BLOODY FsCKING HELL! Searching Google for "Nelnet" + fraud finds a long running history of fraud complaints like this:

Nelnet to pay $55 million to settle suit

By MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star JournalStar.com | Posted: Friday, August 13, 2010 2:25 pm

Nelnet announced Friday that it will pay $55 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging it defrauded the government by improperly benefiting from a student loan subsidy program.

The suit was brought by former U.S. Education Department researcher Jon Oberg and sought $3 billion in damages from Nelnet and several other companies.

Nelnet said in a news release that the suit alleged it gained $407 million in improper profits from the subsidy, putting its potential liability, with triple damages, at more than $1.2 billion.
.
.
(continues)

Narrowing the search to 2012 shows things haven't gotten any better.

Also, see the complaints listed, here. With friends like Nelnet, who needs enemies? :thumbsdown: 😡

 

[Saint Nick]

Saint Nick, any time a payment is recieved at Nelnet it is applied in the order of outstanding fees and interest, and then principal. Please give us a call if you have any questions about your statement, we would be happy to help. 1.888.486.4722.

Well, I actually did call you guys, and you were helpful. I was sent a transaction log that detailed everything that happened with the loan from when it was issued to today.

The statement you guys issue does not make sense, however. I understand now that I am paying off my loan plus interest, but I'm not sure why you folks at Nelnet do not include the interest in the payoff amount. I was very confused when I first saw it on my statement. It seemed as if I were throwing money into some sort of magic hole in which 50 dollars was worth 10.

After reading the info graciously provided by Harvey, I wish I would have went with another loan provider 🙁 Nelnet is poopy.

 

[PricklyPete]

I only took a loan for one semester, so my debt is a lot less than most. However, logging in to their stupid website is such a pain in the ass. I can never remember my password because they have a ridiculously long and complex password policy, and when I change it it has to be completely different from the previous one. So I've given up trying to remember it and now I just do a password reset each and every time I need to log in.

maybe college was not the right decision for you...

 

[Texashiker]

Well, my oldest graduates in two weeks and has absolutely 0 aspirations of going to college. In fact, he "knows some guys" that are going to get him a job in construction. Construction! of all things, in today's environment! LMAO!

Residential, commercial or industrial construction?

Industrial construction pays pretty good.

 

[GTaudiophile]

GA Lottery HOPE Scholarship FTW.

My tuition was paid for through HOPE (maintaining a 3.0 or better GPA). It also contributed towards books. This pretty much left housing, food, and a few miscellaneous health and sports fees, etc. But these were managed by the fact that I was a co-op student and worked for several semesters at Delta Air Lines. I never had student loan debt, and I am still debt free.

 

[Wreckem]

I wonder how the proportions have shifted in terms of degrees that are useful for employment versus people who majored in "I went to college for something"?


And it sucks that learning a trade seems to have such a stigma - "The dumb kids go to tech school or trade school," that sort of thing. Until we get intelligent, capable, and ubiquitous robots (give it time😉), we'll still need people who are skilled at plumbing, construction, landscaping, and so forth.

If everyone majored in accounting, engineering, and nursing, there would be a glut of those grads and they wouldn't be any better off.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

LOL...the school isn't really good enough to justify that kind of hassle. Why wouldn't the good students go to better state schools in areas where it isn't quite as difficult to establish residency?

Because in Arizona it's either ASU (party central) or, U of A. As to why they don't leave the State, some do but, most can't live on their own without Mommy and Daddy.

As further anecdotal evidence, I worked there for three years before using my educational benefits as a salaried employee. The paperwork I got AFTER the first semester detailing my benefits showed I was listed as an out of State student. 😱

 

[Via]

When I was at SIU Carbondale they made me apply for financial aid from the government before the school would give me any.

Within 2 weeks a contract for $5000 loan for each semester arrived at my apartment. I didn't need it, but I thought "fuck it", signed the letter, and sent it back. I had a $5000 check in my hand within another few weeks. They sent me another letter for the next school year, but I still had most of the $10,000 in the bank so I didn't send it back in. That 10,000 was a lifesaver after I left college, and my GF and I needed a place to live and money to buy food while I was getting on my feet. I paid back all of the money pretty easily once I had a decent income.

What's weird is - it clearly stated in the forms that you had to go to counseling sessions to get the money. I think it was even in bold print, but I ignored it, and no one ever contacted me about these sessions. The second $5000 arrived opn schedule as well.

Who is in charge of this stuff? I never even asked for a loan.