Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling

A lot of people take on more debt than they really need, and we know that's not limited to students taking out loans.
A student loan is an investment, and it should be treated as such.
You shouldn't borrow more than you need, and you should have a plan for paying it off as quickly as possible.

 

So, what's the point of posting the numbers if you're not saying that postsecondary education leads to a higher wage?

It's meaningless.

And, while not scientific, there have been lots of articles like today's Times piece. To ignore a mountain of anecdotal evidence would also be foolish.

I'm just advocating that people take info like that in today's Times into account when making their decision and planning their future.

 

On this we're in complete agreement.

 

Stats are stats. One infers meaning at one's own risk?

 

One of my friends forwarded me a similar article a few weeks ago. My question is: okay, so what the hell are those of us who aren't going to be blue collar workers supposed to do?

I'm not going to be a welder or a mechanic or a truck driver. I'm going to have to take out student loans to go to college, but that is inadvisable at this time. What exactly would they recommend those 18-year-olds fresh out of high school to do? Sit at home? Wait tables and make enough money so they might be able to afford going to school without needing government assistance? It's like everyone is telling us two different ways to go:

GO TO COLLEGE OR YOU'LL EARN A MILLION DOLLARS LESS IN YOUR LIFE
or
DON'T GO TO COLLEGE BECAUSE YOU'LL BE BROKE TRYING TO PAY OFF STUDENT LOANS

I'm honestly not sure which is better.

 

Or, find a cheaper alternative.

Go to community college and work at the same time. Then once you're done with community college, transfer to a state school and keep working.

That's if you want to avoid paying student loans.

The thing is, and what a lot of HS grads are sold on, is that if they spend 2-3 years at home at Bumfuck CC, then work their way through state school, is that they're missing the best 4-5 years of their lives at college. And to a point, that is true. THere is a lot to be said for living the college experience. And I have memories that I still cherish.

But at the same time, memories don't pay the student loans.

It's a tough call to make.

 

The economy we have today is not the economy we will have forever.

 

1. Dixiehack's point is apt.
B. Living at home, take GE requirements at community college, working while going through college - all cut down on the expense and reduce the amount one must borrow.
iii. It's nice to have a great 'college experience,' but that's not the purpose of college.

 

Best investment of all would seem to be nailing the SAT and raking in scholarship money. Then you get the best of both worlds: College "experience." No/limited loans.

Depending on what I wanted to do with my life, there are still a few schools I would pay real money for: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Northwestern. Those types.

 

You don't necessarily have to nail (let's say in the 1450-1600 range under the old system) the SATs to do this. It certainly helps, but there are plenty of other ways to build up one's resume.

 

I agree. What I can't figure out is how those other private schools -- out here it's the WCC schools like Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara, but there are similar ones around the nation -- can get away with charging more than $30K a year for an extremely average education and a degree that carries no more weight than the public university up the road. But I guess they find enough suckers every year to keep going.

 

That always surprises me, too. I've met people from places like Amherst, Vassar, Smith College, Williams, Wellesley. They're always smart and so forth. Except I think that they would find it shocking that most of us have never heard of their school. I imagine there is probably enough of an elite liberal arts college mafia on each coast to make it worthwhile?