7 years of school on to 20 years of debt.

[John Galt]

Scotland's lead??? What are you talking about? What does Scotland have to show for this?

Ever been to the financial aid office at a community college or university?  Are you aware of Pell grants? Are you aware of tuition forgiveness programs? Are you aware of medical services employers offering tuition to their employees for nursing school? The GI bill, the military's near requirement that officers always be continuing their education? Subsidized loans?  According to the scholarships representative that I met with a few years ago there are still many ("in this economy") that aren't doled out either for lack of qualified candidate or lack of a candidate.


Where isn't the taxpayer picking up nearly everyone's education, or in the least to some degree?
................

The main problem with financial aid and student loans in the US is the majority of the money goes to the companies that manage them instead of going to the students seeking the money for their education.

[guncrasher]

The main problem with financial aid and student loans in the US is the majority of the money goes to the companies that manage them instead of going to the students seeking the money for their education.

I remember back in 89 as I was at the unemployment office looking for a job , some guy asked me if I wanted to learn about computers.  having taking computer classes in highschool, I told him I was interested, he told me it was free, so he took me to an office nearby that was the computer school.  I spoke to a counselor who told me it would be a pell grant so I had nothing to pay back.  I asked to see the classrooms as I could hear there was a class in session at the time.  I walked in and saw no computers whatsoever and students were given hand outs to learn.

I said thank you I"ll let you know and walked away. a few months later they arrested almost everybody at the school for fraud.  they never bothered to buy computers and were just praying on desperate people.


semp

[John Galt]

I remember back in 89 as I was at the unemployment office looking for a job , some guy asked me if I wanted to learn about computers.  having taking computer classes in highschool, I told him I was interested, he told me it was free, so he took me to an office nearby that was the computer school.  I spoke to a counselor who told me it would be a pell grant so I had nothing to pay back.  I asked to see the classrooms as I could hear there was a class in session at the time.  I walked in and saw no computers whatsoever and students were given hand outs to learn.

I said thank you I"ll let you know and walked away. a few months later they arrested almost everybody at the school for fraud.  they never bothered to buy computers and were just praying on desperate people.


semp

I had a welder working for me 3 years ago that our company had to garnish his wages due to a defaulted student loan for a welding school that took 40 plus students money and ran, all of the students will still responsible to pay back the loans.

[guncrasher]

I had a welder working for me 3 years ago that our company had to garnish his wages due to a defaulted student loan for a welding school that took 40 plus students money and ran, all of the students will still responsible to pay back the loans.

a friend of my gf's wanted to earn her lvn license so she went to a school that required the money up front.  so they helped her get a loan for 30k.  she went 1 day, didnt like the school and quit.  she's gotta pay all of it back.

a good portion of the people who get loans can not find a job in the field they trained.  there's a lot of horror stories about ITT and the University of phoenix.  I wanted to get my BA so the University of Phoenix "counselor" called me and she had no interest on what field I was studying but more into how much it would cost.  I take classes at my local community college as often as I can.  it's gonna take me a while as the hours at my job are brutal.  most guys in my department make 70k+ with only a high school education but they put in a lot of overtime.  but before I die, I want to get my RN licence as I always wanted.

semp

semp

[SEraider]

I had to garnish 3 employees in 3 years due to student loan defaults. 

[RotBaron]

There has also been a scam that takes advantages of Vets and the GI bill. It is my understanding that a lot of Vets were fooled by these counselors at "Nationally" accredited schools only to learn that their credits don't transfer to Universities to obtain a Bachelor's or higher.  CC's and Universities are "Regionally" accredited and it's considered a higher standard albeit an unintuitive naming system.

Buyer beware.

[John Galt]

There has also been a scam that takes advantages of Vets and the GI bill. It is my understanding that a lot of Vets were fooled by these counselors at "Nationally" accredited schools only to learn that their credits don't transfer to Universities to obtain a Bachelor's or higher.  CC's and Universities are "Regionally" accredited and it's considered a higher standard albeit an unintuitive naming system.

Buyer beware.

I have heard about that.. what a shame.

[Ripsnort]

Re: Post-HS education:
First off , I've always believed that as a parent, one should plan for their child's post HS education just in case they want to attend college. It doesn't cost that much out of a paycheck. We started putting $100/month in each kid's 529 account the day each was born. The first born is now a senior and has his entire 4 year degree taken care of with this 529 account (as long as it's within the state of WA/OR/ID) Anything outside of those 3 states, they have to make up the tuition costs (out of state tuition)

The oldest has already secured this extra financing with multiple 2 year athletic scholarships offers from multiple colleges (Lacrosse) He has narrowed down his offers to two colleges (both in Missouri). He's visiting both this month and will make a decision.

THAT said, my parents did NOT save money for my education but managed to pay for my oldest sister's BA and Masters. But they were divorced by the time I was at the age of considering college.

So, I worked right out of HS, then went back to college and paid for it myself.  

My wife has been accepted in the UW Masters program and that will put us back $40k over the next two years. Thankfully we had enough foresight to start a 529 plan for both kids.

[DREDIOCK]

My college education will be free.

Go Army!

Not for me it wont. LOL

Both thank you and your welcome

[EskimoJoe]

It's not free. It may cost you your life.

Respectfully,

It wouldn't be for college that I would be paying my life for.

 

[GScholz]

Respectfully,

It wouldn't be for college that I would be paying my life for.

 

Indeed. There are few nobler sacrifices. The perks that come with the risk are well deserved.  

[NatCigg]

i see people take the "living expenses" portion of financial aid.  this can become the majority of the debt.  unfortunately these "poor" individuals could have denied this loan if they wanted.

[Easyscor]

i see people take the "living expenses" portion of financial aid.  this can become the majority of the debt.  unfortunately these "poor" individuals could have denied this loan if they wanted.

Student loans are not going away. If you live in poDunkVil with no University, you won't be driving a couple hundred miles to school every day. I don't think University housing can be free anytime soon but imo it shouldn't be a profit center either. The buildings will remain for generations and that should be factored into any rents. The reviled meal tickets should always be a student expense.

[BoilerDown]

How do you explain the astronomical number of engineers graduating in China and India?

There are billions of people in those countries.

How do you explain the lack of engineers coming from Indonesia?

[VonMessa]

My college education will be free.

Go Army!

                                           

Finish your tour.

Explain free to me, again, once you are finished...