Some older Americans say millennials’ student debt is their own fault

Free college, limited to a vary narrow range of degree options, make sense, so it'll never happen in the US.

 

Shame. Would be the most progressive and egalitarian solution. Would allow kids from the poorest families to get not just a university education, but one which leads out of poverty.

 

Unfortunately our body politic has accumulated several deleterious mutations which make it more or less impossible to pull off good public policy.

 

And of course, our pals the Progressive Elite would insist that Arts degrees are included. Their failure to grasp that in sacrificing funding dollars for courses never intended to secure jobs, and therefore of use only to those who don't need to work for a living - ie the rich, they would directly compromise the poor (who need access to otherwise free courses), would be an embarassment if it wasn't such a travesty. And they tell us they're the compassionate ones .. who care about ending poverty and such. Barf.

 

What's wrong with apprenticeship programs? I just checked for welder programs (nice money) and the only qualifications are to pass a test and have a DL. They pay you to learn.

There are lots of occupations that pay people to learn right out of the gate with nothing more than a desire and willingness to get your hands dirty.

 

You do realize that PRIVATE schools are the ones most likely to incur huge debts right? A medical or law degree from Harvard or Yale, for example, tend to incur debts of AT LEAST $250,000 - $300,000 once interest and fees are counted. This is much higher than debts from comparable public universities like College of William & Mary, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, etc.

 

Nothing's wrong with apprenticeship programs, it's just that this thread is about student loans.

 

Well okay, but if you're talking about free college paid for by taxpayers, then I'm not exactly sold on the idea.

It used to be tuition free for residents. That's what I did for two years so I could get some very cheap credits that transferred to an accredited university. My classmates were almost all just locals who were doing exactly what I was doing. There were night classes for those who worked in the daytime, and nobody had any college debt.

I just checked and while the cost is a lot higher than it was, 46 dollars per unit for residents shouldn't exactly break the bank.

So the question of student loan debt is still rather questionable. Why the hell are people piling up such huge loans when you can go down the street to a community college and pay almost nothing?

Apprenticeship programs pay you to learn. Community college units are almost free, the military still provides GI loans, so... I just don't see the problem, except maybe too many students are too poor to paint, and too proud to whitewash.

 

1. Red herring, the lie that a degree in anything from anywhere is required for the American Dream is despicable whether it fools someone into borrowing $80,000 or $200,000.
2. Medical and Law schools are indeed the worst offenders in the discrimination department, white and Asian males pay double what they should so that women and minorities pay half or less. I experienced this personally years ago in my more politically naïve days, and am still POd about it. One of my friends in law school was black, female and from a wealthy, elite political family. I am from a very middle class background. Guess who got $0 financial aid, paid $60,000 a year in tuition, room, board, expenses, and who paid... -$0-. Similar with other friends who were the "right" color and/or gender unlike myself. By the time this all outed, it was too late to just stop and cut losses. This is one reason I believe the student loan system needs massive reform. It is not only based on a lie, but used to enable anti white/Asian male discrimination in a "wink wink" way all over the country.

 

My point, that I've made many times on this forum re: college costs, is that before the explosion of federally backed student loans, state universities used to be a good buy. They were cheap enough that you could afford to attend while working a part time job. The explosion of federally backed student loans has lead to the an explosion of college tuition costs, that just are totally unreasonable.

In threads about "why can't we have free college like Europe?" I've pointed out that we could have that if we limited college admissions to only very high scorers of standardized tests and dumped virtually every aspect of non academic college life that is common in American colleges but absent in European ones, like dorms and extra curricular activities, sports...just strip it down to classes, teachers, and exams.

Free college the way the current Democratic candidates envision it, EVERYBODY can go for any subject, is ridiculous, but I would trade a system of limited free college for some useful degrees like STEM for the current Student loan system we have now.

The current student loan model is the worst of all worlds, and it needs to be dumped for something, almost anything else.

That isn't going to cost much.

 

I just gave you three low cost alternatives to racking up student loan debt that are available right now, so there is no problem.

I know people say there's a problem, but there really isn't.

 

Why would they want to do that? That would be about as stupid as the 1% want everyone else to be poor.

 

I couldn't help but giggle a lil College grads, they get what they pay for!

 

So you are bitching cause a rich black girl's family paid for her college while your middle class family didn't>

And you niy getting student loans is your own fault. I'm white and middle class and didn't have any issues getting loans or grants when I went to college. Blaming your own failures on others' race just makes you look like a petty, jealous ass.

 

So much about you and your posts become clear the more of them I read. My black female friend's family DIDN'T PAY ANYTHING... YOU PERPETUALLY OBTUSE PERSON! She got a race/gender free ride which I and others paid excess tuition to cover. This was crystal clear in the post, a child could understand the point... yet somehow you did not, or are being disingenuous.

Your posts to this forum make you look like someone with the reading comprehension of a gerbil. Day in, Day out.

 

You seem to be saying, why can't 18 year old's make responsible adult decisions? The same kids who are not responsible enough to handle a $400 balance on a store credit card are given access to mortgage sized loans to go off to some far off school and have fun. That's why your alternatives won't work. Because as long as the current system is available, it's easier and more fun.

 

When was that?

Because college is WAY more expensive relative to income than it was, say, 30 years ago. I can dig up the article if you want, but IIRC college is four times more expensive relative to income nowadays.

So if you went to college a while back, the situation has changed a lot.

 

Please send me a $200,000 car. Perhaps a late model Ferrari.

 

The military turns down 80% of applicants.
https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/2014/05/14/80-of-military-recruitments-turned-down.html

 

Some older Americans say millennials’ student debt is their own fault

I would prefer to call it their responsibility.

 

Increasingly, that's not true, at least for STEM majors. Getting research experience as an undergrad is increasingly important. Being exposed to cutting-edge stuff is what makes a STEM graduate competitive, as well as giving them a better idea of what specialty they want to pursue.

 

That has had at least some effect, but I think the main driver -- for state schools, anyway -- has been states drastically cutting back on their budgetary support for state schools, and those schools having to raise tuition to make up the difference.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/educat...-state-funding-for-higher-ed-fell-by-billions

This is fair. Although many European schools provide at least some dorms and extracurriculars, if not sports, and AFAIK they don't generally limit the subjects you can study. The point about it being entirely about standardized-test scores is right on.

 

You do realize that if she came from a wealthy family, as you claim, she wouldn't have been eligible for grants or loans right? Public loans have a maximum income allowance. You can't get them if your family exceeds that allowance. So you are full of ****.

 

No, you, as usual, are full of ****. Her free ride came from the -school- not a government program, and that school and hundreds of others like it pay for that by jacking up the tuition on whites and Asians, especially white and Asian males. That was the whole point, which you made a fool of yourself misunderstanding, and are now doubling down. Cool.

 

Lots of people get full scholarships. Including poor people. If you have evidence that she got one because of her race, as you claimed in the OP post it. I haven't seen anything from you that would suggest that she didn't earn a full scholarship. You just made the claim that it was because of her race and nothing else. But unless you have some sort of evidence, I'll just assume you are a healus biggot angry at your "friend" for getting a scholarship with you didn't, and claiming she only got it because she was black,and that she didn't really earn it.