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America’s Graduates Leave With More Than Their Degree

Listening to other students who have accumulated over $50K just after their first two years into their undergraduate studies seemed outrageous. I remember reading in an article once, Obama had said, “a college education is a prerequisite.” Well, if this is true, there is no way for a student to be able to pay off these kinds of debts. Especially when a college education retails over $120K and these are State schools, how much more if they were private? Or a trade school?

Nixon had once mentioned in a speech that no student who is qualified for higher education be stopped because of finances. Did it ever occur to people and government officials alike that, the average college graduate leaves with tens of thousands of dollars in debt? Did it occur that their students loans are much higher than their credit card bills or even their home mortgage—if they even could, considering how much debt they are already in. A college education is a key tool towards success, so students borrow because they have no other choice. 

How about parents who cosign these loans? I am sure parents want the best for their kids. So, from the very beginning of their children’s lives, they invest in their futures. two thirds of American college students will leave with debt. Families have to take into consideration the financial aid their respective schools provide and after, families are expected to pay the difference whether it be out of pocket or student loans. Now, loans are skyrocketing. The need for loans are increasing faster than pay raises available financial resources. 

How do students plan to pay them back? At first I thought, well…I studied something that I completely love and enjoy and found it very intellectually challenging. And thus thought everything would work out: I would graduate and have a job lined up right after. In the economy I live in, it took me almost six months to find a job that had the career path I was looking for. The economy’s job pool is not growing as fast as the college graduate pool. With that being said, there is a shortage of well paying jobs for college graduates. Now this raises the question of what happens to those graduates who have loans and have to default because there aren’t enough jobs to sustain them?

According to the Department of education, there are a quarter million defaulted loans per year. What does that mean? That means our tax payers are being forced to rebound this mishap. The government is the one issuing most of these student loans to families. So when loans are defaulted, the government hurts too. To this day, the student loan debt is about $880 billion. A quarter of that sum is default each year, and the $880 billion exponentially grows each year. 

In an interview with CNBC, Senator Harkin says, “Schools keep the money, students have the debt, and tax payers lose.” BINGO. Personally, I believe the student loan crisis is far worse than the home mortgage crisis Americans have experienced in 2005/2006. Families essentially walk away from their homes to get away from the debt. But for students, there is no way. Their knowledge is the banks’ money. Student loans have very little consumer protection. By law, they cannot be wiped out even if you’ve passed away. And there is very little ability to refinance (home mortgage holders are able to refinance). If you have defaulted, just assume there is a wanted sign out there for you even if you have declared bankruptcy.  

THESE ARE WHITE-COLLARED MOBSTERS. F’real. Hmm, imagine if you had a BA, MA, Ph.D, ED.d, WHATEVER, and you defaulted, you could lose everything. Is that fair? Our government has gone way too far right. And being a capitalist country, is creating way to many strains on everyone. Collection agencies make it impossible to live. They call day and night. And makes a person want to go into hiding. 

I am a victim of abusive collection agencies. And they would call day in and day out. Every number that was linked to me would be tried. And it wasn’t as if I did not want to pay them back, I had offered other ways of giving payment, but it was always, “no, we can’t do that, we need you to pay the full amount in [___] days.” Well, shit? One could argue, maybe I should have kept better record of my finances. Yup, but how about when you have been institutionalized because you’re mentally ill? And then those hospitalization costs start to stack up and then things start to go into default? Are you going to argue, well, then maybe you shouldn’t have been crazy. Fuck you. This exact situation is happening to many across the nation. How am I going to pay it? I want to pay it, but you’re not giving me very help to deal with this. Where am I going to get 24K if I don’t have a job? Etc.

It’s so hard to argue with the goal of higher education: A more educated nation is a more competitive nation. According to Obama, by 2020, the United States will have the greatest proportion of college graduates. WOOOOOOOOO. But how you gonna pay for it broo? 

Students, have you ever heard a financial aid officer say, “There is so much money out there, [we] want to give you money.” Hmmm…Well, in my opinion, the government and companies alike are creating a class of borrowers. Now, what happened in the early part of the 1900s? Hmmm….People borrowed…a lot. and, then what happened? Uhh, the market crashed and we went into a depression for almost 10 years. Uhh…are we seriously going to repeat this? (That was dumbed down, but you get the gist)

Personally, I think the government is using “a more education nation=a more competitive nation” because we are falling behind european and asian superpowers. For crying out loud, the government has given out over $880 billion to students (and their families) who can barely afford the crazy costs of a college education. And yet there are 1 in 4 kids who are unable to eat. On a given night, there are 672,000 people who experience homelessness. Almost 60% of Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line. Where did the government get this ludicrous amount of money that they cannot house people or feed kids?

Will your college education help you with your college debt? I need to do more research in “default management programs” because how can the government really tell me how many students have defaulted if there are students who are in deferment or forbearance? In my gut, I think it’s going to be higher than what I had mentioned earlier. And I also think a degree is NOT a guarantee anymore. Decide what you would like to pursue at an early age, start working when you legally can, and read every chance you get. 

Thanks for listening. 

:)

I’m going to make the last 46 days in San Francisco count. I’m not going to feel depressed, but I’ll definitely feel some kind of heart ache. I will be leaving for NYC after my
Lease is up. But, perhaps we’ll pull through. It’s optimistic, but that’s who I am—always looking on the brighter side. Perhaps fate will swoop in and I’ll stay in San Francisco and be with my love :) Or maybe it won’t and I’ll be on a plane to NYC. We’ll see.

Good luck to everyone who is experiencing something similar :)

Times are changing

The plan is to go out to New York for a month or two and find a job. Maybe a temp at first to pay for things and then to find my career. I am terrified and excited at the same time. I am sad that the relationship I’ve been in for over a year might be strained, but I do want to be closer to my brother. Our college careers have somehow took us apart and that’s probably why I am so depressed sometimes. Maybe I am being selfish and inconsiderate about how I am planning my future, but I guess it’s something I need to do. Finally get out of my comfort zone. Hopefully some of that strong-willed persona was passed down to me too instead of just my brother. If my roommate, my boyfriend, my brother could move across the country and find a happy medium, why can’t I? I’d like to think I’m just as strong, if not stronger. We’ll see though. Maybe I’m being over optimistic. A month and a half before I pick up and leave. This is crazy insane.