<p>^^In many cases, though, it is merely due to ignorance (as it was for us). We are definitely not materialistic folks. We live in a small (980 square foot!) ranch which was built in the 1950’s and drive old, high-mileage vehicles. We have never, ever (not even once) spent more than $250 for vacation (we go tent-camping and hiking for one week every summer - always have). We have never been to Disney. We have formica countertops - and no dishwasher. We don’t have cable tv, we don’t have HD. My husband is a special-education teacher and I am a nurse who opted to stay home to raise my children and began working part-time when they were in high school. They don’t wear name-brand clothing (not an issue where we live as the nearest mall is over an hour a way - where we live is rural and conservative). My husband and I both come from a blue-collar upbringing and neither of us were ever really educated on finances. We just wanted the best possible educations and opportunities for our children. Both of my sons attended a wonderful private high school on full scholarships. My daughter excelled as an elite gymnast. They are our pride and joy and we only want their success and happiness. What happened to our son was a travesty. Of course we take the blame, but I still think the school should not have made such a large amount of loans so easy to obtain, when we clearly did not qualify. Generally, when you take a loan for other items, there are credit checks and income standards to meet - not so with private education loans - at least not at the time our oldest was in school. We all stand corrected (and educated!) now and this will not be happening with our younger two children.</p>
<p>Keylyme, your story is a really important one. I work with high school kids applying to colleges and it is SO difficult for them to understand what debt can do to your life. I mean, they understand it when you break it down, but they don’t care. It’s so difficult.</p>
<p>Your kids have parents who learned the hard way, but they should be grateful they have parents who care and are involved and will take those lessons on to the next sibling. I see so many kids whose parents are not engaged in that way, and the kids don’t have the perspective to see the whole picture.</p>
<p>Thanks for telling your story.</p>
<p>@keylyme – Thanks for admitting what happened to you.</p>
<p>In another post in this thread, some numbers were posted about average student debt upon graduation. Collegeboard . com also posts data for each college under financial aid.</p>
<p>A couple things to keep in mind: a) these numbers do not report how much the students actually owe including interest, just the principle they took out, and b) these numbers do not include debt taken out in the parent’s name, which often includes PLUS loans, loans offered by the college or home equity loans.</p>
<p>I don’t think most people realize that for non-subsidized Federal stafford loans and PLUS loans, the interest starts to accumulate soon after the loan is taken out. The payments can be deferred until after graduation, but the interest really adds up fast. If these loans are used for the freshman year, by the time the first payment is made years later, the amount owed on the loan has dramatically increased. Therefore, a student and parent should use other resources as much as possible before taking out any loans (except subsidized versions of Federal Stafford and Perkins).</p>
<p>My nephew provides another example. He lived on campus at a private college that was more expensive than his family really could afford. After a year, he had run up high debts and used up his resources. He is now completing a degree at a community college and living at home. He would have been much better off starting at the cheaper college and then transfering to a more expensive college. </p>
<p>Instead, the name of the expensive college will not appear on his degree, and he does not benefit from the advanced classes that were available at the private college. </p>
<p>In effect, he wasted too much money taking basic classes at an expensive college.</p>
<p>I also find that many students do not take full advantage of the excellent education that is available at many branch campuses of good public universities. Many offer guaranteed rights to transfer to the main campus. The quality is often much higher than community colleges, and the credits are much more likely to be accepted if the student transfers to a selective college.</p>
<p>^All of that’s very true, but how to get the HS seniors whose parents can’t or won’t pay their EFC to accept that wisdom is an entirely different animal. Numerous kids have been given this info on these forums (many of whom are convinced they’ve worked much too hard to have to go to a CC, although apparently not quite hard enough to secure the merit aid they need). Very few will agree that to consider the CC’s first and some become downright hostile about it! As they say, you can only lead the horse to water… Rocketman made some very good observations that are generally overlooked. Maybe the $1M payday upon retirement scenario would make someof these kids take note!</p>
<p>Keylyme, please don’t think that anyone is judging you…the collective wisdom I’ve found here on CC has sure saved my kids from some very costly mistakes! Thanks for posting about your story, it’s great that your younger kids have you watching out for them and I truly hope everything works out in the end for your firstborn.</p>
<p>My Community Collagecost 10,000 more then going to Florida State, Then those were all private loans offered to me. I still worked full time as a chef and took the bus to class. By the time finished with my B.S. I encured 47,000 in debt and wasent able to defer my private loans since they were taken after July 1st 1993. Then the fact I was diagnosed with end stage reanal failur my last year of school did not help me defer my loans becouse the tempuary disabilty deferment is for loans taken befor July 1st 1993, thats 17 years ago. By the way all my private loans for the community colloge have defaulted, while I was given aDeferance for FSU, since they were all fed loans. Now that I have received a Kidney transplant, 2 months ago, I thought I would be able to go to med school. The community Colloge loans are now stopping me.</p>
<p>But you were accepted to med school?</p>