student loans

We know several 20 and 30 somethings who are in serious trouble with student loans and a few more who may be on the road to trouble.  The situation is putting a crimp on the economy and extinguishing dreams.

Comments

[Roger]

The problem is that student loans are too easy to get. Colleges and universities know this, so they just keep raising their rates, knowing that students will foolishly jeopardize their futures.

When I was an undergrad (before student loans), my dad, who didn't earn much money, sacrificed to pay my tuition and provide a place for me to live. And I worked menial jobs like scooping chicken shit for a dollar an hour to get one decent meal a day, which may have been beans and wieners. Now it boggles my mind that three years at Kent State could have cost $74K. Kent State? Just like taking out huge house loans with ballooning mortgage payments, these people often get into these situations without giving thought to the consequences.

For the past 40+ years, my and my wife's philosophy has been, we don't purchase anything unless we have the money to pay for it. This means that we went without a lot of what people around us were enjoying. We never borrowed and we always paid off every credit card before it was due. We both have advanced college degrees, and we never borrowed a dollar to pay for them. After college we started out with junker cars and a small house, which allowed us to save for something better in the future, which we now have, fully paid for.