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$25k is actually less than the average price of a new car sold in the US. It's not an enormous amount of debt. It's manageable. Would it be better if students

$25k is actually less than the average price of a new car sold in the US. It's not an enormous amount of debt. It's manageable. Would it be better if students didn't owe money after college? Yes. Is the student loan debt equivalent of a new midrange Toyota Camry a life-crushing burden? No, not really.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
Student debt is running at around 8% of US GDP. It might or might not be a life-crushing burden for individuals. But it's still an incredibly risky burden for a fragile economy. And personally I don't find "And don't even think about a graduate degree unless you want to end up with >$40k" all that reassuring for those with postgrad talent and ambitions.
- twblalock 7y ago
  I don't know who says "And don't even think about a graduate degree unless you want to end up with >$40k". When I went to grad school the standard advice was that you shouldn't go anywhere without a free ride in the form of tuition waivers and/or a stipend or TA job. Professional schools (law, medicine, MBA, etc.) are different, but they also cost way more than $40k.
simple_phrases 7y ago
I don't know many people who get saddled with $25k of brand new car debt when they turn 18. Typically, you buy a brand new car if you can afford one, and that precludes most teens. We're telling every kid in high school not born into means that they'll be destitute if they don't go to college. The two are not comparable.
- CapricornNoble 7y ago
  "I don't know many people who get saddled with $25k of brand new car debt when they turn 18." Spend some time near a military base. Brand new Mustangs galore. And when you ask the kids who bought them for some details you find out these Lance Corporals are paying like 19% interest. -_- A side-effect of schools not having classes like Home Economics anymore.

3 ms·

$25k is actually less than the average price of a new car sold in the US. It's not an enormous amount of debt. It's manageable. Would it be better if students

by twblalock 7y ago

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
Student debt is running at around 8% of US GDP. It might or might not be a life-crushing burden for individuals. But it's still an incredibly risky burden for a fragile economy. And personally I don't find "And don't even think about a graduate degree unless you want to end up with >$40k" all that reassuring for those with postgrad talent and ambitions.
- twblalock 7y ago
  I don't know who says "And don't even think about a graduate degree unless you want to end up with >$40k". When I went to grad school the standard advice was that you shouldn't go anywhere without a free ride in the form of tuition waivers and/or a stipend or TA job. Professional schools (law, medicine, MBA, etc.) are different, but they also cost way more than $40k.
simple_phrases 7y ago
I don't know many people who get saddled with $25k of brand new car debt when they turn 18. Typically, you buy a brand new car if you can afford one, and that precludes most teens. We're telling every kid in high school not born into means that they'll be destitute if they don't go to college. The two are not comparable.
- CapricornNoble 7y ago
  "I don't know many people who get saddled with $25k of brand new car debt when they turn 18." Spend some time near a military base. Brand new Mustangs galore. And when you ask the kids who bought them for some details you find out these Lance Corporals are paying like 19% interest. -_- A side-effect of schools not having classes like Home Economics anymore.