Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans

[FirefightnRick]

ITWorld: Computer science students are in demand and they know it

Lo, I just got back from a 3 week road trip that included Seattle to visit my roommate and his family for a week.  They took us to tour  "The Campus" and it blew my mind.   Needles to say, our CS program has done very well, and I'm so proud of my roommate and the life he has made for he and his family up there.  

 

  Leave it to me to sniff out a muscle car in the epicenter of software Developement. Here I am with the "MicroStang" built by West Coast Customs.

 

Rick

[Coffee and TV]

Oh 

[oldguystudent]

Here's a good story on cosigning issues with loans...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/your-money/student-loan-co-signers-face-a-tangled-path-to-a-release.html?_r=0

I don't know if I'll go so far as to cosign any loans my daughter may need to take out, but I foresee likely helping her out with payments for quite some time.  I'll be done with mine before any of hers would kick in.  I'm pretty comfortable making my payments, so I can't imagine I wouldn't be comfortable making hers.  Hopefully, the route we have planned pans out and none of this matters, but should it come to that, I'm going to do everything in my power to keep my child from suffering the consequences of crippling debt in her early twenties when everybody wants to pay her 14 cents an hour regardless of how great of a STEM degree she gets.  Nobody deserves to work so hard then suffer so much for it in their twenties, thirties, and beyond (if they do grad school later in life)

[KRAM1]

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy....you have what it takes you get a fantastic education and you graduate with a job and zero debt.  

Just sayin......

[oldguystudent]

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy....you have what it takes you get a fantastic education and you graduate with a job and zero debt.  

Just sayin......

I don't think she would do it.  I will admit though that I hadn't thought of that before.  But yeah, I really, really, really can't see her going into that kind of thing.  

[Quoner]

Thought this was a good Sunday read: http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/07/29/liberal-arts-degree-tech/

[GreenMachine]

Thought this was a good Sunday read: http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/07/29/liberal-arts-degree-tech/

Great, our art majors should be raking in the big bucks and can give back to the university. 

[Quoner]

Great, our art majors should be raking in the big bucks and can give back to the university. 

I know. Between the chance to make people like you happier and support the long term security of our leadership, why isn't anyone backing up the truck?

[Stix]

You might find this interesting:  A Message From Generation Z: Thanks For Nothing

The next problem is the mountain of personal debt weighing on both the Millennial and Z generations. As shown in the chart below, over the last 6-years student debt has skyrocketed.

The problem, as discussed previously, is not all student loans went to higher educations. Student loans are sources of cheap and easy capital to support spending requirements. The WSJ confirmed the same:

"The Education Department's inspector general warned last month that the rise of online education has led more students to borrow excessively for personal expenses.

The report also found the schools disbursed an average of $5,285 in loans each to more than 42,000 students who didn't log any credits at the time."

The problem, of course, is that only about 1/3 of those that enroll in college actually graduate. This leaves a large number of individuals heavily debt burdened without the college degree needed to obtain a higher wage level to support the debt. Its a vicious cycle that now weighs on a large group of the younger generation and negatively impacts future consumption trends in the economy.