Student Loan Debt

If your child goes for 4 years at 2 semesters a year, you will be spending $40k on tuition. Your child is almost certain to move out before then, so there will be an increase in that for rent. There is also food cost.A LOT of families can't drop that kind of money for one child, let alone several if they have more than 1 kid. The availability of loans means that most students will take on debt to get that degree to some extent. When you are paying what seems to be a huge sum of money, a lot o

Compare this to racking up massive debt going to college without any guarantee of a decent job upon graduation.

>True, looking forward to blaming a lot of US students for wanting education.Some perspective:Under 40% of people get any college at all. Of those, 30% of students graduate with no debt. The remaining average $30k in debt. This is not much debt compared to other things they will buy in life.Avg starting salary for a college grad is $50k.Avg new car price is $35k. Some people buy many cars in a lifetime. Median home listing is $279k. ~65% of US is homeowners.

It's certainly something to be complaining about. It may enable a career, but not always, and the career may be enough to pay off a loan, but not always. At the very least, $30K of debt is a lot to have hanging over one's head for years.Consider also those who are 3 years into the degree and decide that field isn't for them, and they want to leave school - that's nearly $20k down the toilet which will be hard to pay back.BTW, your logic applies equally wel

It's irresponsible to borrow when you will not have the means to pay back the debt. Most college graduates end up underemployed or unemployed after earning a degree in a non-rigorous major from a mediocre school. With only a BS degree and ~$30k debt, a professional job can easily pay this off. If the market could price the loans properly, perhaps they'd be discouraged from taking out the loans. Realistically, a loan would not be made in the first place.

Not sure why you're getting downvoted. IMO 18 is much too young to understand the consequences of huge student debt, especially when there's so much cultural pressure to be a student.There are similar scams in writing, where MFAs have become increasingly expensive and less and less likely to be a good investment.There's no benign motivation here. It's simple greed by the loan shark companies and university administrators.More civilised countries understand tha

Does "don't get into debt" apply to choosing what college to attend, as well?

The problem with college is not that you have "significant debt". The problem is choosing majors and/or a career path that doesn't allow you to pay off that debt.My wife has "significant debt" from college and medical school (roughly 200k) that she will pay off over 20 to 30 years (or whatever it is). However she earns a good salary for what she does. As a result the cost of the education is similar to a cost of doing business. When I met her I had to loan her a

I had a friend that chose to go to a $27000/year out-of-state university. She left school with a graduate degree and $140k in debt with the prospect of making around ~$40k/year.Meanwhile, I went to my tax-subsidized home-state university. Paid for everything with Stafford loans and Pell grants. I left school with around ~20k in debt. Paid it off early.Shouldn't we hold people accountable for their choices? It is possible to get a decent education and leave school with a mana

Not every country saddles their young graduates with tens (to hundreds!) of thousands of dollars in debt.