How Colleges are Killing America.

Average student loan debt hit a record of nearly $30,000 per student last year, and has grown well beyond the rate of inflation for decades. In late February, the New York Times reported that the state of education in the U.S. was worsening. About 12 percent of student loans were considered “seriously delinquent”. Total student loan debt in the U.S. is now a staggering $1.2 trillion. The problem continues to worsen, as the growth in seriously delinquent loans grew by nearly 100 percent from 2010 to 2013.

The negative effects of this mountain of debt are disturbing. The average student borrows $30,000 to pay for college, and parents typically borrow (on average) more than $20,000. The average public university in Illinois where I teach (for example University of Illinois or Illinois State University) is nowhere near affordable for the “average” family. A family putting one child through college (and earning, for example, $60,000 to 70,000 a year) will need to cover an average of about $23,500 in total cost of attendance per year. This translates into a tremendous burden for parents and children – nearly $95,000 per student for four years. Half of that cost realistically materializes in the form of student loans (adding the average parental and student loans together), with the other half being paid for by parents who deplete their earnings and savings. The actual costs per family are likely to be much higher than $96,000, as recent estimates suggest that recent high school graduates on average will take nearly six years (not four) to graduate. Add to this the growing cost of living in America – covering rapidly increasing costs of food, health care, and consumer products – and student loan debt contributes to a “death of a thousand cuts” assault on America’s shrinking middle class.

Source.

Colleges are killing America.

at least you put it in the right forum this time

Would anyone agree that vocational or trade schools are better anyways? There you can specialize in a job, have less debt, and wisely have more efficient time.

I went to a community college, decided to switch my major (Thank God I did), because of the fact I could not pass a Statistics class that was required for me to move on to a University. I ended up taking the class 4 times without a result. I even had to take a counselors permission after the third try.

I'm not saying I'm very smart, or anything of that nature, but what I am saying is I believe I should have been able to pass that class on the 3rd or 4th attempt; perhaps another possibility is that stat teachers are not good at what they do, which I am oblivious to.

Long story short, colleges have way too much emphasis on them, and I agree with TC.

I thank my folks for planning well in advance (before I was born). I've been doing the same for my own kids.

Colleges are killing America because America is weak.

Time to wake up... nothing but scam, it's like credit cards.

How are credit cards a scam?

It's not, but it's not about being self centered. You'd understand what I mean if you read the last sentence instead of singling out one sentence I wrote.

I think this video is appropriate for here. So much truth is told about colleges in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T24DPU-hkJM

The cost of living went up so expect to get a raise sometime soon trinkle down economics

Not everyone should go to college, but society says you have to. That's why you have kids/young adults going to college and accumulating all this debt.

I'm graduating this year from a state university and I have no student debt. I started at a Community College(saved a ton of money this way), worked a job all four years, and earned academic scholarships to help accomplish this. This is what you should do, and have the want to educate yourself because you want to, not because you "have" to.

I have professors tell students in class that a 4 year degree isn't worth going into debt for.....I mean its crazy! A $30,000 dollar loan is enough to start a small business, why not just do that?

I could go on about this, but College isn't for everyone and it shouldn't be, but for whatever reason College is becoming High school 2.0

People should seriously consider studying abroad. My university fees is $10,000 a year including accomodation costs. In America that would easily pass $20-30,000 a year.

the perks of living in a wealthy, first world country are the countless ways people come up with to take money away from you.

Definitely going to be a massive college bubble burst in the near future, along with another banking crisis. Sucks that an entire generation fell into this trap, but 100 grand for college, 300 grand for a house or 1500 a month apartment lease, and 16 grand for the cheapest car, was never going to be sustainable, barring some economic boom. My state has been lucky with the energy boom, and I was able to get in at the start, but even I have former classmates that never got the chance to use their engineering degrees.

I agree that charging people this much for college is a scam, but credit cards aren't a scam. You just have to be smart and careful when you use credit cards. Don't have too many of them and pay them back on time. What's the big scam? A lot of people who are in credit card debt were either too irresponsible with them or just got themselves in a big pickle (like losing their job and living off their credit card while trying to find a new one).

However, charging people like me who are in their early twenties and don't know much about finances to pay several thousands of dollars to get a degree that may or may not guarantee employment soon after graduation should be fucking illegal.

Why? They never said it would guarantee you a job

Yes exactly, increase your chances of getting a job? Sure but then it could depend on what kind of degree you're shooting for.

No, but seriously, we gotta get the government out of the student loan business.

Study a program that will guarantee you a decent job then. For example, don't go in an art degree program at a fancy college and expect it to be easy to find a job let alone start a career. Take the time and do some research. Too many people are going to post-secondary for the hell of it. Granted, parents and high school scare kids into thinking that if they don't go to college then they'll fail at life.

Well, there's only a few degrees that would guarantee a decent job after college, and not everybody's into those, so telling everyone to pursue the same few majors isn't a terribly good idea (especially because then there'd be a little too much job competition). Though I have to agree with you that some degrees are downright useless, and that it'd be nice if the world would stop making it seem like not going to college means you will be an epic fail for life.

@loco145: You should become an economist I like the way you think

By being lured into debt.. credit cards aren't helping people with money, they make money by lending free money got it from government.

Since the target crisis my banks debit card is no longer used. I like the extra protection you get from Ammex, then I also have a MasterCard my parents opened 20 years ago that gives me a huge credit score boost. As far as degrees, I graduated in '03 and unemployment for engineering students was at an all time high. You were lucky just to find a temp job. I ended up joining the electrical union and headed to the oil patch.

well they could just work full time and pay their debt off like me. instead of doing the 4 year plan, i went with a five year plan and worked full time. i have no debt and will finish my bachelors in a few months. you just have to sacrifice somethings, i worked holidays for double pay and even did grave shifts. i think doing this has made me a more well rounded student because i have a really good work ethic. My internship is considering hiring me in a position that requires a masters degree just because I am so productive.

They're not a scam though

Jesus fucking Christ, man. Charging people who are only a few years out of high school with little financial knowledge that much money alone should be illegal, because it has scam and wrong written all over it. And while a lot of degrees are useless, the ones that aren't should guarantee a career at some point after graduation considering THE MOTHERFUCKING COST of going to college in the good 'ole United States of 'MURRICA. I'm going to school right now for a degree in radiography, which is in the medical field. And since it's in the medical field, chances are I'll get into that career after graduation, but alongside my previous community college debt, my total debt will probably be fucking 40 to 50 grand.

How is any of this the fault of the schools? And just having a degree should not guarantee you a job.

It's not. It's just a fact that most people out of high school don't have knowledge on finances. When I see schools charging this much, I just see scam and manipulation written all over the place.

And I'm gonna agree to disagree about the degrees. After being required to pay all that money back, I better get a fucking career from it. I'm not gonna debate that part.

Once again, not the schools fault. That is a failure of the kids parents, and there are multitudes of options for students wanting to attend college.

And why do you deserve a career just because you have a degree?

I just said it's not the fucking school's fault. Jesus.

And I told you I'm not gonna debate that. You should know by now what my response will be. You sound like getting a degree is a cakewalk, and it's pissing me off.

I'm just gonna agree to disagree before this conversation sours my mood even more and ruins my day.

Ah so you're just entitled. You think that just because you graduated from college, now someone should just hand you a job and a career. It doesn't work that way, and it shouldn't work that way. Just earning a degree does not entitle you to a job.

Sorry to burst your bubble but I actually know two people that have degrees, one has a BA in Arts and another has an AA in Psychology and to this day they're still struggling to get a job with those degrees. Like I said before degrees may increase your chances of getting a job but you're not going to get one on the spot once you get a degree in anything.

Well apparently he feels entitled to a career

The price of textbooks alone is enough to warrant concern. It's an absolutely ridiculous system that needs to be thought over I agree.

Ah yes, some if not most textbooks are just overpriced especially the math ones...

I hate debts.

Up yours debts!!

It's especially hilarious when a class requires you have a specifial edition that's marginally different from the one you may have used the previous class.

Yet costs around $200. lmao.

No, I feel that people who go to school to get a career in a certain major deserve that career after graduation for the work they put into during school, especially considering how overpriced colleges are. I'll agree and say that going to school won't guarantee a career in that field, but they deserve it if they put the work into it.

Just so we're clear: you don't even fucking know me, so don't claim I feel entitled to anything.

My A&P textbook cost over $200. It's fucking ridiculous.

"I better get a fucking career from it" "people who go to school to get a career in a certain major deserve that career after graduation"

Sure sounds like you think you're entitled to a career just because you went to college. Just because you went to college does not mean you deserve to be handed a job/career when you graduate

Jesus horse fucking Christ. The whole reason people go to college is to get a career. And those employers requiring college degrees won't accept just anyone; they require degrees because there are special skills that need to be learned to do the job right. If someone goes to college for a certain career, gets great grades, agrees to any required internships, and graduates on time with a good GPA, then I think they've earned that career. That's not exactly demanding entitlement to a career; that's rightfully earning it. They have to work at it in order to obtain it. If someone thinks they should be able to get the career without the required post-secondary education, then I'd agree that they're acting entitled.

Did you leave your brain in a dumpster or are you just getting a kick out of being an annoying dick?

How is that rightfully earning a career? all they've earned is a degree. At best they've earned the opportunity to get a job/career in their desired field. Just because you get a degree does not mean you deserve a career in that field.

Do you usually move to personal insults when you can't give a proper answer? Did you learn that in college?

Yeah the college system here in the US is absolute bullshit and it pisses me off. I am scared shitless of going back considering how many people my age are graduating with all this debt and no way to get a job.

Doesn't even need to be an art degree or anything either. My Uncle got an engineering degree here in Michigan and had to move out of state to finally land a job in his field. Good buddy of mine who uses this site got a degree in physics I believe and it took him like a year to find a job in his field after graduating....

There is no excuse for textbook prices either. That shit should be fucking illegal....

I recently read that to become a neurosurgeon, you need to go through 14 years of school MINIMUM. You don't think neurosurgeons deserve their careers after spending at least 14 years of their lives in school to get there? And while many careers don't require as much time in school as that, they're still expensive to obtain due to the overpriced nature of American colleges. I can't believe you actually think people don't deserve careers for putting in so much work and money into getting the required degree. You disgust me, man.

Four things:

I have given you a proper answer.

I only started to use personal insults in high frequency when you falsely claimed I was entitled and your constant inability to grasp my point.

I'll quit the personal insults if you stop asking the same fucking questions over and over and actually give me your reasoning behind your opinion.

This is really getting tiring.

Amen, brother. To make matters more enraging, many countries actually offer post-secondary education for practically free. What the **** is wrong with this country?

You have not given a proper answer on why someone deserves something just because they were given a degree? So you worked hard for a degree, congratulations you got one. Now it's time to work hard on getting a career. Just because you put in time and money into getting a degree does not mean you then deserve to be handed a career. People shouldn't be given jobs because they paid a lot of money to get a degree, they should get a job and the subsequent career because they earned it.

"you disgust me, man"

there you go with the insults again.

Republicans!

But seriously, it would take a while to list them all....

Would end up putting the Republican party on the list though.... :P