Average debt up again for new college grads

<p>SteveMA, I lived in NYC after college with 4 roommates so I know it can be done. I also worked in a restaurant in NY during school not getting home sometimes till 4AM. think I started at around 18,000 (84)after college and landed my first interview. I just don’t think it’s too easy to find good jobs though right now . But young kids have time on their sides and I think you really have to be thinking outside the box these days. I would also encourage kids to develop or learn some other skill that they could do part time or full time if need be.</p>

<p>“College loans are one of the worst propositions students can make today. Much better to just go to a state school.”</p>

<p>haha. State school is expensive too. If it was just private colleges that were so expensive, there would not be so much uproar about rising tuition costs. </p>

<p>“again, there is NO reason ANY student should have to take out loans that are not affordable to pay back.”</p>

<p>Here are some reasons:

  1. No job after graduateing (a bucket that MANY students fall into) = unable to pay back.
  2. No full-ride/full-tuition scholarships or wealthy & supportive parents. One of the cheaper state schools in my state has a total estimated cost of attendance of ~27K/year. That is a BIG number.<br>
  3. Low paying/hour jobs during school & summer jobs (getting a decent job that will work around your ever-changing school schedule in this economy is tougher than some realize.</p>

<p>“I think the troubling aspects of current educational costs are not truly revealed by the dollar amount at graduation. If 50% of college students graduate without a job, I have to believe that a good portion of those kids has a larger debt load by the time they are employed with a college commensurate salary.”</p>

<p>I agree with this. Many students continue working their retail jobs for a long time after they graduate. </p>

<p>“There ARE jobs out there, kids need to be flexible about where they move to get those jobs though…”</p>

<p>This is a silly thought IMO. It can be difficult/expensive to get an out-of-state job and ill-advised to move before you have something lined up. </p>

<p>“Given that many new college grads throughout the country are unable to find steady work at all, and that many that do find jobs make considerably below that average figure, I’m still very worried about my contemporaries graduating with that much debt.”</p>

<p>$26k is a lot for the environment these students are facing. And remember, that $26k figure is misleading. Many students are lucky enought to have parents who supported/contributed greatly to their college costs. There are many students with much more debt than that.</p>

<p>Whatdidyou–the figure is misleading in that it is the average, if you take the mean, which is more accurate and pointed out in an earlier post, that figure is actually $13,000. In other words, more hype. </p>

<p>When I graduated from college no one had jobs when they graduated. Most took time off after school and THEN looked for jobs. That 50% graduate with no job is FAR more misleading. Look at the number of kids that have jobs within 6 months of graduating and you are more accurate. </p>

<p>As for moving to the job, how it is silly? Sure, it can be somewhat expensive if you have a house to pack up and move but for a kid right out of college, pack up your stuff in the back of the VW and off you go. Getting an apartment anywhere is going to cost you money so why not do that where you have a job? No one said anything about moving before you had a job.</p>

<p>SteveMA:</p>

<p>“There ARE jobs out there, kids need to be flexible about where they move to get those jobs though…”</p>

<p>Explaining away the high student unemployment rate by saying that students just need to be more flexible is much too simplified. And if anything, being too broad about location desires in the interview process is often seen as a negative not a positive. </p>

<p>"When I graduated from college no one had jobs when they graduated. Most took time off after school and THEN looked for jobs. That 50% graduate with no job is FAR more misleading. Look at the number of kids that have jobs within 6 months of graduating and you are more accurate. "</p>

<p>Statistics are all relative. I’d bet the 6 months after graduation figure is also higher than it used to be. And nowadays, students are foolish to take months off the job search in this economy. Taking time to travel, explore, and discover yourself is a pastime. It is much too competitive nowadays. </p>

<p>"Whatdidyou–the figure is misleading in that it is the average, if you take the mean, which is more accurate and pointed out in an earlier post, that figure is actually $13,000. In other words, more hype. "</p>

<p>You mean median? I’m not sure I trust your statistics. Even if I do, if 1/3 graduate with no debt due mostly to parents and scholarships. I can believe that many students also get 2/3 to 1/2 of their costs paid by mommy and daddy and that the median debt is $13K. However, there are many students who are not nearly as lucky.</p>

<p>Whatdidyou–scroll back, I didn’t post the $13,000 figure, someone else did. Again, hype, you HEAR the horror stories about kids graduating with $200,000 of debt from UG but they are still few and far between. How many kids do you know personally that have that kind of UG debt? In fact, most of the time you hear huge student loan amounts it’s in conjunction with UG and Med or Law school. </p>

<p>Look at the threads here about kids looking for jobs and where they are looking. There is some fascination with NYC and Boston. How many kids do you see looking for jobs in Omaha, Des Moines, etc.? The center part of the country has very low unemployment rates and many companies are crying for qualified employees…but they aren’t sexy towns to live in so they aren’t getting any attention.</p>

<p>I disagree that taking time off after college is a bad idea. How does that make you any less employable then someone that started looking the day after they graduated. I would say that employees would be happy to see someone apply for jobs that traveled around Europe for a month after graduating. I think you are making too much out of the “competitive” nature of jobs around the country. Companies hire at all times of the year, not just May.</p>

<p>Just to use one midwest example–3M, probably heard of that company once or twice, has 5 PAGES of listings for engineers…</p>

<p>Sorry, this is a long thread. Since you referred to the $13k figure, I thought you had posted it. Regardless, my point stands. </p>

<p>That is a big leap. I never mentioned $200k of debt, and fully agree with you that there is no good reason for that much debt for a 4year degree. However, I do think that debt in the 40-50K range is quite common and can be quite a burden to newly graduated students, especially if they struggle finding a decent paying job. </p>

<p>“The center part of the country has very low unemployment rates and many companies are crying for qualified employees…but they aren’t sexy towns to live in so they aren’t getting any attention.”</p>

<p>Once again, an oversimplification. It is easier to get a job in the area you went to school in. Most out-of-state applicants do not get responses. And i seriously doubt that all my unemployed/underemployed newly graduated and inexperienced friends would all of a sudden be able to find a job if they focused their search for positions in Omaha. I think very few companies are actually “crying out” for employees, and when they are it is for a very specific skill-set/experienced hire. </p>

<p>“I disagree that taking time off after college is a bad idea. How does that make you any less employable then someone that started looking the day after they graduated. I would say that employees would be happy to see someone apply for jobs that traveled around Europe for a month after graduating. I think you are making too much out of the “competitive” nature of jobs around the country. Companies hire at all times of the year, not just May.”</p>

<p>It IS very competitive. Unfortunatly oftentimes the bigger the gap = the worse you look. Explaining away the 50% by saying “When I graduated from college no one had jobs when they graduated. Most took time off after school and THEN looked for jobs.” doesnt quite cut it. Because nowadays on-campus recruiting is often critical. Students aren’t taking the time off before they start looking for jobs in the same numbers as they used to. </p>

<p>"Just to use one midwest example–3M, probably heard of that company once or twice, has 5 PAGES of listings for engineers… "</p>

<p>One example is one example. And not everyone is an engineer. And i’d be curious to see how many of those listings are for entry level positions and how many applicants they usually have per entry-level position.</p>

<p>WSJ had an article today. Some girl borrowed $90,000 to study OPERA–Barnard and some NY music school. Not wise.</p>

<p>I saw that article in the WSJ. The article spotlighted an issue that’s been discussed here on CC–parents and even grandparents who cosigned loans are now having to start paying on them. At least Opera Girl was doing everything in her power to keep repaying her loans so that her immigrant parents didn’t get stuck with them. </p>

<p>A much different story with another woman who didn’t sweat over not paying her loans because the house was in her husband’s name and she had no money. Her mother who got stuck with the loans, however, is sacrificing to pay the loans back.</p>

<p>[Student</a> loan debt crushing | New Hampshire NEWS04](<a href=“http://www.unionleader.com/article/20121028/NEWS04/710289900]Student”>http://www.unionleader.com/article/20121028/NEWS04/710289900)</p>

<p>Saint Anselm College junior Dana Hazeltine rattled off his yearly student loan tab: $17,500 his freshman year, $17,500 as a sophomore, $23,000 this year and probably another $20,000 next year. About $78,000 in all. … “I’m going to come out of school making $70,000 a year,” he said, explaining he might have attended the less expensive University of New Hampshire if he had pursued a less lucrative career. “It would be a lot harder if I was, like, a teacher making $30,000.”</p>

<p>He’s a ChemE major. Probably would have had a great education at UNH too.</p>

<p>I think by the time i graduate i will have close to $25,000 is federal student loans and that is from attending a large state school. Unfortunate, but it makes me feel better to think about it as a big investment.</p>

<p>Get a real degree at a real school and you can pay it off. Boom</p>

<p>St Anselm doesn’t have chem engineering. only a 3-2 program with probably UMass lower for this kid. So 5 yrs of school, not 4. Assuming $70K/yr starting after UMass Lowell is a big stretch, he’ll be in for a rude awakening. He’s from Dover, could have easily commuted to UNH… probably didn’t get accepted there I bet.</p>

<p>I didn’t realize that they were only a 3/2 program. I had a look at the department page and it does link to UML (along with three other schools) for ChemE. I also suspect that he didn’t get into UNH for ChemE though he did suggest that he could have gotten into UNH for other majors. I also agree that $70K is a stretch as a new graduate. UML will probably cost about $30K+. It seems to me that he would have been better off taking two years at UNH-Manchester with a transfer to UNH.</p>

<p>Get a real degree at a real school and you can pay it off. Boom </p>

<hr>

<p>It’s best NOT to borrow that much, regardless of where you go to school. If you get a great job after graduation (not guaranteed even if you graduate from a top school … and certainly possible even if you graduate from a lesser-known school), you can save/invest/purchase a home/etc. with the money you won’t have to pay back.</p>

<p>I’m more talking about fine arts majors or philosophy or something. You’d be crazy to get in debt for that.</p>

<p>But even then if you get an engineering degree, no promises if its from some tiny random school.</p>

<p>Just my two cents</p>

<p>It would depend on what bank you get your loan from and the amount of scholarships that you obtain. Spending four extra years in University, you should expect to have higher dept do to the increase of students enrolling in Grad school and Medical schools.</p>

<p>It is crazy to see how much debt kids are leaving college with now-a-days. It seems like the colleges don’t even care and then they call you or mail with with donation solicitations shortly after graduation. Makes me angry every time.</p>

<p>Thanks for sharing. Do you know how realistic it is to NEVER take out a loan for school? I never have, and I don’t plan on doing so, in the future, either. Maybe that’s why it has taken me SO long to get a degree!</p>

<p>Regards,
BettyfromCA</p>