Student loans make sense to me to a degree and that degree really only applies to my parents generation. When you were taking out a loan that you could realistically repay in a summer or two of full time work. I do moderately agree with the idea that you should have some stake in your education but , and this is where I get liberal, as an 18 year old you should not be allowed to make a decision that will essentially having you buy a house without the house. I think there is (was? I'm not sure if it has past now) an issue with parents not transparently conveying to their kids the cost of higher ed. I do know parents who were much more transparent with their children about it but that was not the majority.
I get that as parents you want to give your child the world and we are told growing up to apply to the best school you can but I think this is really misleading and honestly detrimental. I wish that in the US you could go to the best school you were qualified for regardless of cost. To me, that's kind of what freedom might mean but I also understand wanting students to understand that this is not an excuse to just do nothing in college. Regardless I am a part of a generation who either didn't understand the true cost that student loans would be or wasn't really told. This is now a generational issue and is meaning millennials can't afford to buy houses because financially we're already on the hook for that amount of debt. I think we as a society are just starting to feel the repercussions of a generation who grew up the Recession and now are making homeowner size payments. I am hopeful that there are people motivated to do something in office but I haven't really seen that come to fruition. Inroads are being made with free community college and statewide commitments to free college if students make under a certain amount but its somewhat too late. The wheels of change turn slow and hopefully they keep turning.
I get that as parents you want to give your child the world and we are told growing up to apply to the best school you can but I think this is really misleading and honestly detrimental. I wish that in the US you could go to the best school you were qualified for regardless of cost. To me, that's kind of what freedom might mean but I also understand wanting students to understand that this is not an excuse to just do nothing in college. Regardless I am a part of a generation who either didn't understand the true cost that student loans would be or wasn't really told. This is now a generational issue and is meaning millennials can't afford to buy houses because financially we're already on the hook for that amount of debt. I think we as a society are just starting to feel the repercussions of a generation who grew up the Recession and now are making homeowner size payments. I am hopeful that there are people motivated to do something in office but I haven't really seen that come to fruition. Inroads are being made with free community college and statewide commitments to free college if students make under a certain amount but its somewhat too late. The wheels of change turn slow and hopefully they keep turning.
You make really good points about the cost of higher education and the potential impact of student loan debts. I think a significantly large percentage of people in our country bought into (and continue to do so) the idea that having a college degree is the "golden ticket" to higher earnings. Statistically it's true, a person with a bachelor's degree will earn over $1 million more than a person with just a high school diploma. In that sense, student loan principal and interest from a state school would still leave you ahead financially. Unfortunately what we see is that students leave college under-prepared for those high salary jobs due to their degree or the quality of their program. There is an over-saturation in higher education caused by the "golden ticket" mentality. Students, parents and K12 education systems need to move away from that mentality.
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