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As much as it's tempting to blame the author for the predicament she finds herself in, the reality is that those who offer these finance arrangements know that

As much as it's tempting to blame the author for the predicament she finds herself in, the reality is that those who offer these finance arrangements know that they're offering them to people who will be beholden to them for most of their lives. This is legal, but morally abhorrent. I don't know how to stop this trend, other than to tell a whole bunch of young people that they can't afford to learn further in the US educational system.

djrogers 8y ago
> other than to tell a whole bunch of young people that they can't afford to learn further in the US educational system. There are tons of alternatives to funding a very expensive university through debt. Work part time, pick a cheaper school, get a bunch of credits at community college, or do all 3. And that is all without a single scholarship - of which there are many you may qualify for. It’s irresponsible to just throw your hands up and claim that there’s no other way around it...
- girvo 8y ago
  Surely one can make an argument that having to do all of that, or rely on scholarships to get a tertiary education isn’t a great state of affairs for the future of our countries?
- Can_Not 8y ago
  Ok but what about the people who already work one or two part time jobs, already picked the cheaper community college, already aren't buying $5 coffees from Starbucks daily, already don't eat out all the time, already don't pay for cable, already didn't buy a new iPhone this year? Assuming everyone's already well off and just living above their means isn't very helpful when education itself is the thing that's costing above most people's means.
dpark 8y ago
This is accurate. All the talk about how to fund college ignores the fact that some degrees are not worth it in terms of financial cost/benefit. What does an MFA get you in actual earning potential? If the benefit is extremely low, no method of funding will make financial sense except if you can convince someone else to pay for it. If you pick up $200k in student loan debt from an Ivy League school but leave with an engineering degree, you’ll probably be fine, even if that’s not really the cost effective option. If you leave school with $50k in loans and a degree that doesn’t get you a decent-earning job, crippling debt is now your life.

djrogers 8y ago

> other than to tell a whole bunch of young people that they can't afford to learn further in the US educational system. There are tons of alternatives to funding a very expensive university through debt. Work part time, pick a cheaper school, get a bunch of credits at community college, or do all 3. And that is all without a single scholarship - of which there are many you may qualify for. It’s irresponsible to just throw your hands up and claim that there’s no other way around it...

girvo 8y ago
Surely one can make an argument that having to do all of that, or rely on scholarships to get a tertiary education isn’t a great state of affairs for the future of our countries?
Can_Not 8y ago
Ok but what about the people who already work one or two part time jobs, already picked the cheaper community college, already aren't buying $5 coffees from Starbucks daily, already don't eat out all the time, already don't pay for cable, already didn't buy a new iPhone this year? Assuming everyone's already well off and just living above their means isn't very helpful when education itself is the thing that's costing above most people's means.

dpark 8y ago

This is accurate. All the talk about how to fund college ignores the fact that some degrees are not worth it in terms of financial cost/benefit. What does an MFA get you in actual earning potential? If the benefit is extremely low, no method of funding will make financial sense except if you can convince someone else to pay for it. If you pick up $200k in student loan debt from an Ivy League school but leave with an engineering degree, you’ll probably be fine, even if that’s not really the cost effective option. If you leave school with $50k in loans and a degree that doesn’t get you a decent-earning job, crippling debt is now your life.