Over 60, and Crushed by Student Loan Debt
The federal government has conspired with the universities to create a class of indentured servants who will share much of their wealth with the universities. In exchange, the universities build lavish facilities and hire all manner of flapdoodle do-nothing administrators to soak up all of the cash. The students and their parents who are gullible enough end up on the hook for huge amounts of money they have no hope of paying back. The point of the no default, no bankruptcy relief system is to create indentured servants. The ugliest part of this is the universities get the money up front before the students, or the parents realize the game. It is only after the student has received a worthless degree in gender studies, lesbian dance theory or the like and can only find minimum wage jobs that the reality of the game becomes clear. The students I have compassion for since they have no experience, and their parents, high school counselors, and teachers have sold them the lie: a degree, get a job, live a wonderful life — the right degree, perhaps. The wrong degree and most degrees are the wrong degrees, and nope live the life of an indentured servant. The parents, however, I do not understand. Parents should be telling their children that a college education has value in opening the door to a job, but the cost must be managed, and if the debt cost is more than 1/2 of the first year's salary, they are in for trouble. Parents who take on huge student loan costs are out of their minds. “'How do you say to your child, ‘We insisted you work hard and go for the brass ring’ and ‘oops we can’t help you?’ ”he said." Here's how: "Honey, the cost of the college you want to attend, Ursinus College, is $65,000 per year. Tuition and Cost I've never heard of Ursinus College, nor do I know of anyone who has attended Ursinus College. $65,000 is not a reasonable amount to pay for one year of college. I am willing to help you with college tuition costs via no interest loans in an amount equal to one half of the average state tuition costs and the one half of the cost of a dorm room and board. You need to pick up the costs of the other half of tuition, the other half of the room and board, and all of your expense costs. Many companies like UPS will pay up to $5,000 towards your college tuition costs if you work while you attend college. They often offer night work which will not interfere with your college time or studying. That road will be tough but rewarding. Community college is cheap, around here tuition is less than $5,000 per year for a full-time student, so I expect you will attend community college for at least two years, live at home and work at UPS to receive college funding. Since I will not need to pay for your tuition during the years you attend community college, and since you will be living at home and I will already be paying for your discounted room and board, I will have the money to loan you interest free two years of full state university tuition, and room and board when you decide to finish up at Slippery-Slimy Rock State College. All of this depends upon you choosing a responsible major which will offer you a real education and actual job prospects once you have a degree. You and I must agree, in a written contract, to your degree and the loan conditions before I will make you the loans. Now let's get busy with your applications, loan papers, and educational plan." You know, treat the now adult child like they are an adult, not like they are an eight-year-old you are rewarding with a $136,000 ice cream cone. If you cannot speak frankly with your adult child, you've failed them miserably. The real problem here is the parents are not adults; the children are immature, do not know the value of a dollar, and have frivolous, starry-eyed desires. Pop that bubble, bring them down to the real world. I have no words for the adults who go back to college on a whimsical Unicorn dream. If you have the money, an art college might be an enjoyable diversion. If you not, taking loans out to attend Unicorn University to pursue a degree in Unicorn Igloo Architecture and Design seems like a smoothly paved superhighway to poverty, depression, drug abuse, and suicide. As far as I can see this is Price's Law running its course. The half of the people at the bottom not only are unproductive but when they amass a few productive assets, they quickly find ways to waste them frivolously. I know, in this story the point is they do not amass anything, they anti-amass wealth by simply short-circuiting the system and going right to debt to fund the frivolity. Sigh. This is a roadmap on how to become the bottom tier of Price's Law. To become the top tier, do the opposite - no college debt, receive a degree in a responsible major with quality job prospects, keep costs, tuition, and expenses low (community college is one way - University of London's External Programmes is another), find scholarships, work at jobs which help pay tuition, live at home, etc. How to get a top 10 university degree in three years for less than $10,000 in tuition! The link is no joke. But it requires students who are focused, ready to work, and willing to buckle down and work hard on a degree. If they are so willing, they can get one of the best degrees in the world for about one-year state university tuition. I offered to pay this in full, and send each of my children to London for the spring each year. U of L offers a spring break final exam preparation course - I linked that with a couple of more weeks of European travel if they would pursue one of these degrees (they both had decided on an econ degree before I made the offer.) Both, in the end, made other decisions. A University of London economics degree through the University of London International Programmes is incredibly valuable worldwide but costs only $10,000. The US News ranks the University of London (The London School of Economics and Political Science) number 6 in the world. Top Universities ranks it number 5. The Best Global Universities for Economics and Business, Ranked Top 10 Universities for Economics Worldwide Compare that to a Ursinus College degree costing $260,000. How Does Ursinus College Rank Among America's Best Colleges? I did not find it in the world rankings. All of this perplexes me. No one should take the road to indentured servitude even if it is to impress their children. Yet, these people and large numbers similarly situated do so every day.
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