Comments on: Quick Question On Student Debt

By: James

James — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:19:43 +0000

My parents once took me to see the place they’d lived in during grad school, which was actually surplus “temporary” housing left over from the GI Bill students after WWII.

The duplex had been torn down, but the concrete slab it had been built on had been converted to four parking spaces. Two married couples had lived in that building, so it works out to something a little better than the one-parking-space sized van he’s living in.

I must admit, I never understood how people majoring in subjects like English or Philosophy ever made it back out of debt… now I know what it takes.

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:31:45 +0000

Alternative to debt:
http://salon.com/life/pinched/2009/12/06/living_in_a_van/index.html

It actually reminded me of the story of the Quonset hut my aunt and uncle lived in when he went to UMass after WWII on the GI bill, actually….They used to laugh about it, at least in later years.

By: James

James — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:20:18 +0000

And it really is influencing who even considers going to grad school. Of course that was when I was still an undergrad. Now I’m guessing grad school is seen as a great way to wait out the complete lack of a job market for most new college grads.

By: James

James — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:15:19 +0000

Yeah, the total cost of a four year degree is a whole different, and even more frightenly large number. There used to be some good state schools at were only 5-6,000 a year in tuition, but I don’t expect there are many left after this last set of state budget crunches.

By: James

James — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:08:54 +0000

Oh, absolutely. From looking around their webpage it’s clear what they’re trying to do is draw attention to the huge amounts of debt many (most) students go into to get a college degree. What got me thinking about how best to represent the number was looking at the animated map they have on their site and having trouble doing comparisons in my head between different states.

I’m already convinced the cost of education is out of control in this country, so for me it was interesting to look at regional differences.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:57:20 +0000

I’d say 30k is a pretty good deal for a 4 year education, though I can’t think of any school that actually costs that little. I’d be interested how much higher this number would be if it included what parents and kids kicked in as cash.

By: Liza Wheeler

Liza Wheeler — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:32:37 +0000

Do you think the higher number in the first serves their purpose a little better, or at least draws more attention to their organization?

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:08:54 +0000

Huh. I was leaning towards the first one. And I say that because if you don’t have any debt then the subsequent issues of starting your life so much underwater, or with rich parents, means your life plays out rather differently.

For me the main point is what these students face after graduation, and the debt-free ones are not the ones I’d worry about quite as much.

I can’t believe how much money people owe after school now. And if you go to grad school you can’t even begin to climb out for many more years. Awful.