That debt level is not considered huge – but the luck of the draw in finding a recession when you graduate can have a severe impact on your career progression and your ability to pay down the debt.
I would have more sympathy if they were continuing to pay the loans back, even slightly. But instead they are saying they ran away so they could live better elsewhere than they could here… well, yeah, they are living better there because they don’t have to pay back money they borrowed.
If it gets harder for new students to take out loans, it will be because of people like these who ran away and then bragged about how they got around the system/whined because if they come back they will still have to pay.
I don’t think these students look far enough into the future. The whole milliniel culture is here and now. Quick and easy. It took me and my wife like over 20 years to pay back our loans. Being able to get a house and use its equity helped. I had to keep deferring my payments which like doubled many times since I didn’t have a choice. I wish I had the choice of paying back according to income etc. I think it’s also how your brought up. It might be a struggle but I live up to my responsibilities.
They can run, but what if they want to return at some point? It’s simply wrong.
We took our first overseas job 22 years ago so that we COULD pay off our student loans quickly after my husband finally defended his dissertation. Jobs with no housing costs, no taxes, and free day care on site made it possible to pay down the whole debt in about 15 months.
I have no sympathy. I graduated 35 years ago with the equivalent of 100K of debt in today’s money. H graduated 2 years later with slightly less debt. The thought of not paying the money back never occurred to either of us. It took me 10 years to pay mine back. H chose to go into private practice (as an attorney) so his loans took longer to pay. I finally, as a gift, made his final payment for him the month our oldest child entered high school. We sacrificed and scrimped to make sure that the loans were paid. That money was the only thing that allowed H and I to crack the bottom of the middle class floor and we have always been cognizant of how fortunate we were to have that lifeline and knew that our money would be cycled back to help future students. My sister defaulted on her loans and that is just one part of the reason why I don’t deal with her any more.
I also have no sympathy. If they are now employee and earning a decent income, especially in a location with a very low cost of living, they should repay their debt. With interest.
I agree with the other posters here. No sympathy at all! I paid my own way through college and graduated with a manageable amount of debt.
During college, I worked the 3-11 PM shift at the hospital and asked to work every Friday-Saturday-Sunday so I could focus on school Monday through Thursday. Some weeks I worked extra hours, and when the overnight worker called in sick, I stayed and worked a double shift. I did not have a day off for over 2 years!
Shame on them for shirking their responsibilities. They can stay where they are as far as I’m concerned. I am certain they will regret their decision as they get older.
None of us condone this behavior, but the higher education system is also at fault here. We have too many colleges producing graduates who don’t have the useful skills the society needs. Why does everyone have to go to college in the first place? Germans do a much better job training people for useful skills, rather than sending them all to colleges.
I agree that I would feel more sorrow if they were still trying to pay off their debts. I sent my child through a class that went through the ends and outs of college admissions when she was a junior in high school and there was a section on financial aid and the costs of student loans and it blew her mind. It is tough to watch 18 year olds make financial commitments that they don’t totally understand, so the parents are partial at fault (especially if they co-signed without breaking down what a large loan could mean). But I know not all parents understand the ramifications which is the sad part.
This reminds of the discussions we have here about the “value” of a degree. I have a friend who remortgaged her house to send her kid to Tisch. I told my D that I was not doing that and my D went to a SUNY school that I could afford without loans. My friend’s D never went on a single audition after graduating but my friend, a decade later, is still paying back parent loans and her D, who works as an assistant at a preschool, is also still paying hers back. To me, the issue is not necessarily that too many kids are going to college (the girl I am referring to was a top academic student because Tisch doesn’t even audition applicants whose GPA’s and test scores are not of high quality), it’s that people are making short-sighted choices about college. My friend’s H is almost 75 but he can’t retire because of these loans.
Many people have these ideas that only full priced schools are worth attending. Many of my friends have had difficulty saying no to their children when they insist on attending expensive full price schools - with loans. If you can afford it out of pocket or through savings or if your child earns enough merit money or FA to make it worthwhile, go for it. Otherwise, look at less expensive options that minimize your ultimate loan balances or avoid them altogether.
I find myself less drawn to the examples, though I’m glad two of the three found lives they’re happy with, but very drawn to the part I quoted. The first part comes up occasionally when I’m talking with youngsters. They definitely have it tougher than my generation considering salaries are pretty flat but expenses of all sorts have gone up. When H and I first married we rented a stand alone house for $500. Try doing that now in most places. Yet his starting income of 40K isn’t terribly different than what many get starting out now. Then add in paying for clothing, transportation, heat, food, child costs, health care, and all sorts of assorted things. H paid off 5 figure debt, but we had enough left over to do so within 5 years. It impacted our budget, but not excessively. Now, pending job, it’s not so easy for young adults.
It’s definitely something youngsters and their parents need to think about and plan for.
Then the last paragraph I quoted is something this nation is going to have to figure out how to deal with. The top 10 or 20% shouldn’t have much difficulty. The rest? One has to wonder.
‘Chad couldn’t believe he couldn’t find a job in his chosen field in America.’
It actually reads like Chad couldn’t find a job in his chosen field in Lancaster P.A. and then he had a rush of blood to his head and struck out for China. His chances of finding employment, in his chosen field or otherwise, might have improved considerably had he widened his job search to take in Philadelphia and New York.
Similarly, the Philosophy major reads like a man who’s job search was limited to the town in which he grew up.
I wish them no ill will but they come across as a pair of Walter Mittys.
Can’t really comment on the girl but wouldn’t parents have to co-sign on loans of that size, or is that the effects of interest when you don’t even try pay your debt?
Not the fault of the system? The system created this belief that everyone has to go to college. There’re 2500 or so colleges in this country and most of them don’t even get a single mention on CC. But they all need to fill their seats. If the system had offered some viable alternatives like German’s does, some of these graduates wouldn’t be in the situations they found themselves in now.
I only read the first one, and am disgusted. He hardly had any money left over after making his monthly payment - how does he think the rest of us live? He thinks he has a higher standard of living in India? I doubt it, and his loan amount is just climbing. Is it difficult? Yes! Is it insurmountable? Absolutely not! Of course, after seeing what he has done, I don’t think I would hire him for anything if he chose to return to the US. He gave up! My daughter picked a school where she could keep her loans low, and is making double monthly payments, to pay it off as quickly as she can - along with a car loan, on an off-lease which enables her to get back and forth to work. She works 50 hours a week at Family Dollar, as an assistant manager, a job outside her field, but it pays the bills. She might not be getting experience related to her field, but she is getting job experience supervising others. I’m glad my kids don’t have this same attitude. Not everyone can afford an expensive education. Yes, reach for the sky, but know your limits.
Focusing on the debt misses the point. If you are a part time barista at Starbucks, any student loan debt will be challenging. The real question is why these people end up with part time jobs at Starbucks? Some of them may have had the unfortunate luck of graduating in the worst economy since the Great Depression. Others graduated in 2013, after the recovery was well underway. That may indicate a more fundamental mismatch between the skills college graduates have and the skills employers want.
This article reminds me of a friend of a friend who spent all the money she got in her divorce settlement sending her S to U of Chicago. She is now living paycheck to paycheck in a small rental apartment with her disabled dependent other S and working 7 days/week making pies. It’s a tough position for a 60ish year old single parent.
it isnt anyones fault or choice, but their own.