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Somebody wrote a reply to the above comment saying that people should simply not have student loan debt and then promptly deleted it before I could post the fol

Somebody wrote a reply to the above comment saying that people should simply not have student loan debt and then promptly deleted it before I could post the following reply: Big ask to expect teenagers to be able to project the marginal benefit of college education (inherently uncertain and speculative) and to also estimate the real, not nominal, burden of the loans to the future (again, inherently uncertain and speculative). And it's tough to make that judgement when many US high schools treat college education like a necessity. Also important to remember that education debt is unique, it's not dischargeable. Unlike any other type of investment debt, borrowers don't have access to bankruptcy, meaning that an investment in education that doesn't work out follows you around for life like an underwater mortgage you can't be rid of.

mmglr 6y ago
There is certainly a problem with how teenagers are misinformed about college, and that education debit is difficult to discharge. However, I do agree that one should have little to no student loan debt. I am a millennial and was able to graduate without student loan debt. I went to community college then transferred to a state school. I earned a scholarship to do a masters in computer science. Then I found a six figure income job at a medium sized company not FAANG or some startup. All I did was found a degree that had a high ROI by googling which was at the time CS.
- greedo 6y ago
  When I went to college, I could earn enough in one summer to pay for my tuition and books. Not my housing or anything else though. In the intervening 40 years, tuition costs have gone through the roof. There's no way that someone can work their way through school. Even community college in my town is expensive. Unless you can get an academic scholarship, or are very low income and get a needs based grant, you're stuck with loans.

mmglr 6y ago

There is certainly a problem with how teenagers are misinformed about college, and that education debit is difficult to discharge. However, I do agree that one should have little to no student loan debt. I am a millennial and was able to graduate without student loan debt. I went to community college then transferred to a state school. I earned a scholarship to do a masters in computer science. Then I found a six figure income job at a medium sized company not FAANG or some startup. All I did was found a degree that had a high ROI by googling which was at the time CS.

greedo 6y ago
When I went to college, I could earn enough in one summer to pay for my tuition and books. Not my housing or anything else though. In the intervening 40 years, tuition costs have gone through the roof. There's no way that someone can work their way through school. Even community college in my town is expensive. Unless you can get an academic scholarship, or are very low income and get a needs based grant, you're stuck with loans.