There needs to be fewer loans offered to students

[kranky]

College tuition continues to increase at twice the rate of inflation, and there are no signs it's slowing down. And there's no need for colleges to worry about raising tuition, since students just keep taking out bigger loans to pay for college.

When I talk to new hires and hear they are $40K or even more in debt I can't believe it. No one should end up in debt for decades just to get a degree. The fact that people can borrow just about unlimited amounts of money for tuition is not helping the students. The people who benefit are the colleges. They can keep raising prices at an above-average rate because there is no resistance from their customers.

My alma mater, for the first time since I graduated, is not getting a donation from me this year. They are spending millions to build fancy apartments near campus. They say they need more student housing. Fine. Build basic student housing at 25% of the cost instead of an apartment complex. Quit doing things that drive up the cost for no good reason.

They replace the hundreds of PCs in the computer labs every two years. Waste. They spent half a million dollars to renovate the outside of one of the buildings so it was more modern looking. Waste. They all do it because they can.

After the rant, two questions for students: Do you know how much of your income it will cost you to repay your loans after you start working? And do you put a limit on how much debt you will take on for college?

 

[DaShen]

Agreed for sure. It is ridiculous that there is no cap on Higher Education costs. I mean in some countries, higher education is free.

 

[ElFenix]

i'm about 100K in debt as it sit here right now :thumbsup:

 

[JS80]

my friend paid $200k to go to Harvard and got a $200k job right out of it. i'd say it was worth it for him.

 

[Slew Foot]

You could expand this argument to include everything that isnt paid for directly. Cars, houses, healthcare, etc... all rise faster than they need to because people tend to indirectly pay for them, so the real cost doesnt affect the buyer much.

 

[dullard]

So rather than give loans, just let only the rich kids in? Nothing like the rich helping the rich stay richer and keeping the rest out of their inner circle. The loans are there so that absolutely anybody from any background can get into school and make themselves better.

I graduated two years ago with three degrees (BS, MS, and PhD) and a grand total of $8,000 in student loans. I think that is reasonable. And I think the loans paid for themselves instantly (I used it for a down payment of a house instead of borrowing at double that interest rate or instead of paying PMI).

Instead, you should be arguing for kids to go to schools that have reasonable costs.

 

[Kevin1211]

yeah i agree.. after pre-med school, ill have to owe more than $10k in students loans (i have a scholarship and financial aid, but still not enough). And i will probaly have to borrow another $100k for med school..

 

[Aimster]

I just took out 10k for the fall semester

woooo hoooooo

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: dullard
So rather than give loans, just let only the rich kids in? Nothing like the rich helping the rich stay richer. The loans are there so that absolutely anybody from any background can get into school and make themselves better.

I graduated twp years ago with three degrees (BS, MS, and PhD) and a total of $8,000 in loans. I think that is reasonable.

Instead, you should be arguing for kids to go to schools that have reasonable costs.

Of course I'm not suggesting college should only be for the rich. But it's not helping students to allow them to take on crushing debt either. What I'm advocating is exactly what you said - students need to push back instead of just taking on more and more debt because the schools keep raising prices 8% a year. That's insane.