Congratulations…now, start paying
From all at NCPR, congratulations to everyone who walked across the stage this month to receive a college diploma. We look forward to hearing about the good work you do.
Sadly, for most of you, there’s an urgency to find work–any work–to start paying down the student loans. This article from ProPublica tells the bleak story for recent graduates across the country…all compounded, of course, by the depressed jobs landscape.
But for this month, enjoy the sense of accomplishment, pat yourself on the back for achieving that degree. It’s a big deal.
For those of us well along in our professional lives, I have a question. I was lucky enough to attend a topnotch FREE school, City College of NY. I paid $35 each semester to register, and bought books (usually a total of $100). I lived independently, but with those tuition costs (or lack of costs), I was easily able to go to school full-time and support myself. What does your experience with college loans look like? How many years ago did you finish your higher education? The ProPublica piece gives a good sense of how tuition costs have skyrocketed since we were in college–whether 10 years or four decades ago.
There should be an investigation by Congress (who loves to investigate anyway) why the cost of an education, especially college, keeps rising so much every year.
I graduated from High school in 1987, attended junior college at SUNY Herkimer for 2 years, graduated, transferred to SUNY Potsdam and graduated in May 1992. When I finished my Bachelor’s degree program, I owed just over $16,000 including interest in one consolidated student loan by then owned by Sallie Mae.
I worked every summer every hour possible in order to help defray the cost of tuition, books, cost of living, etc. over my 4.5 years of post secondary education. My jobs included working in a local paper mill for two consecutive summers, for a general construction contractor the next, and an electrical contractor on the side, and for AMF in Lowville making bowling pins and lanes my last summer before graduating.
I would count myself among the fortunate who had such summer job opportunities. I made good money with all these employers rather than the minimum wage many of my friends and roommates from college were then earning. On top of that, I had the advantage of being able to work a lot of overtime and holidays with all these employers. I’m convinced many of these opportunities came my way because of the trade skills I learned while attending BOCES during my junior and senior years in high school. An opportunity, sadly, that many students are steered away from by guidance counselors, parents, peers, etc….
When I left college in 1992 I began paying off my loan. I moonlighted and worked two jobs the first 12 years after graduation. Much of this extra money went toward paying off my loan early. Which I finally accomplished in 2000, a full 3 years early. Since then, I’ve gone on to complete 23 credit hours of graduate study and some additional undergraduate coursework necessary for my education certification, all paid for up front with savings.
If I had to pay off the level of debt many of our recent graduates faced, I don’t know how I’d do it. Many of these young people have debt in access of a small mortgage and no job opportunities. Some of course, have no clue, do not understand finance, and have degrees in a field where no job exists.
Yes, “If Clapton…,” I agree: how are young people going to handle that debt? What is the current, and expected, default rate on these student loans, and how will that affect the lives of these graduates and our society? I suspect it has an impact on all of us.
Ellen-
When I tried to read your post, a nauseating box popped, blocking it’s upper left-hand corner. It started “Blogs realted to Searches to NCPR” , and then a a bunch of options, like “Search on-line radio”, “Radio Jobs”and so forth.
When I tried to x out of it, I got another box about “Replace your ads with gadgets.”
I was unable to remove the box, and it is still there as I type this.
I’ve never seen anyting like this on NCPR.org, plus I can’t fully read your post with it there, so I’m pretty sure the station has nothing to do with this. It has not shown up on the other NCPR blogs I’ve looked this morning.
I’m not complaining, just letting you know. I wonder if others have gotten it.
Newt
Ellen,
The national total outstanding student debt is now in access if 1 Trillion dollars. It’s more than the total outstanding credit card debt. Many are predicating that it’s the next financial bubble that will burst sometime in the near future. Since much of this debt is guaranteed by the federal gov’t, the tax payers will be left “holding the bag” so to speak on this mountain of debt.
Newt (and anyone else who experienced the same problem): I’ve reported the problem to our web team–Dale and Bill. An explanation should be forthcoming…
My college gratuation was 1964, I have a friend who graduated in 1960 who likes to brag “he didnt take a dime” from his family for his college education…it took him 5 years plus and he worked all the time (sold ads on a rock and roll radio station among other jobs)..GWU was largely a commuter school in those days. My first semester cost including language lab and gym locker fee was $364….”Jack,” I tell him, (now that GWU is in the $50K+ level) “the only jobs open to a student to pay his own way today are rock star and dealing drugs”
Ellen and Dale-
Per my above, I followed Dale’s suggestions and it seems to have solved the problem.
Thanks,
Newt
The last paragraph of Clapton’s 5/21 post reveals one important piece of the problem. There will be a good number of graduates who will earn a degree for which there are no jobs.
If the intent of earning a degree is to find a job where one can earn an acceptable salary and provide one with the opportunity for advancement, then a little research need be done to ensure that your field of study provides that type of future. If your passion leads you in another direction and your resulting degree doesn’t provide any value in the job market, I have little sympathy for those complaining about the cost.
Why would you spend $55,000 per year at Whatsamatter U to get a degree in button hook design?
To add to the above, part of the problem is that colleges, until recently, were not necessarily required to provide graduate follow-up information with regard to job placement. If and when post-secondary institutions actually provided such information, the data was/is so vague and misleading that potential students can get a false impression that job placement percentages are very good when in fact that’s not the case. Often this data includes menial, low paying, non major related employment as well as students who continue onto graduate school or bachelor degree programs in the case of junior college reporting. This problem is even worse within the for profit, on-line, non credentialed schools springing up everywhere.
Parents and guidance counselors need to better educate their children and students as to what this data is and to instill in them the importance of actual job potential when determining what school and what major they are considering. All this illustrates what a huge mess the ever growing “education complex” has created.