Student Loans For Kindergarten, High School On The Rise

As if the student loan debt burden wasn't troubling enough, some parents are saying, "Bring on the debt!"... even though their kids haven't even learned to read.

That's right: cash-strapped parents who want to send their young ones to private schools are taking out loans to pay for grade school, according to SmartMoney. And demand is growing.

Your Tuition Solution, one of the largest providers of loans for K-12 education, reported that the amount of money parents requested is up 10 percent from last year, and that the company is on track to finance $20 million in loans for the 2012-2013 school year, SmartMoney reports. Demand is increasing fast enough that First Marblehead, another pre-college lender, has returned to the market after exiting it in 2008, according to SmartMoney.

As more parents turn to loans to finance private education, school tuition is increasing, furthering the demand for the loans. Over the past 10 years, the median price of first grade at private schools has increased 35 percent nationally, as compared to a 24 percent price hike at Ivy League colleges, according to the New York Times.

Ten years ago, the median tuition for 12th grade at a private school was $14,583. Today, that number has skyrocketed to $24,240, according to the National Association of Independent Schools. Stunningly, in New York City, some of the city's most elite private high schools are poised to break the $40,000 tuition line this year, surpassing Harvard's $36,305 price tag, reports the New York Times.

The tuitions are "outrageous," said Dana Haddad, a private admissions consultant, in an interview with the New York Times. "People don't want to put a price tag on their children's future, so they are willing to pay more than many of them can afford."

It's a dangerous gamble, as Americans are already struggling under mounting student loan debt. Last week, officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Agency announced that total student debt outstanding is now more than $1 trillion. Student debt is rising not only because of a commiserate increase in tuition, but also because in recent years more Americans have turned to college to flee the lousy labor market, reports the Wall Street Journal.

But with that debt comes sacrifices, explained Rohit Chopra, student-loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at a banking conference in Austin. "First-time homebuyers are a substantial part of the housing market. Instead of saving for a down payment, these borrowers are sending big [student loan] payments every month."

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Comments

[boyshighschool]

05:26 AM on 06/01/2012

Thanks for sharing the views about the students loans as these financial aids helps the apprentices in getting the high schools education from the well reputed and authorized academies. These financial aiding services lessen the burden of the parents.
http://www.highschoolsprograms.com/

[chiGrkBoy]

08:27 AM on 04/04/2012

I think I would rather send them to public school and simply tutor them at night when they need help.

Still, this will drive more into simply not having kids. "Why should I give up on a new car and trips every year for a couple of screaming brats?"

[Serio420]

11:16 PM on 04/02/2012

This might not be such a problem if parents could just pick their kids schools.

[lauren kling]

03:58 PM on 04/01/2012

Another great way to transfer the wealth to the one percent. BRILLIANT!

[mmm611]

11:16 PM on 03/31/2012

The Marxist expect to steal money from the "rich" to pay for k thru 12. I know it's true because I heard it on Fox.

[dbrett480]

03:44 PM on 03/31/2012

For kindergarten? What knucklehead parent is going to waste money on that?

[loggerboots]

01:31 AM on 03/31/2012

Romney has said that he thinks interest should be doubled on student loans,

[Life With HC]

12:08 AM on 03/31/2012

To anyone who says it doesn't matter where you went to school, how many members of the Supreme Court went to the University of Akron or Pikeville Community College?

[biodieselvw]

05:23 PM on 04/03/2012

Being on the supreme court would be a miserable job.

[iowamiddleguy]

05:05 PM on 03/30/2012

And we have folks who want to fully privatize education? this is ridiculous!

[jpm2350]

01:41 PM on 03/30/2012

These tuitions are outrageous. How about not putting yourself into a mountain of debt and do some home schooling?

[iowamiddleguy]

05:04 PM on 03/30/2012

home schooling for the majority of those home-schooled does not equal success.

[morgansher]

03:32 PM on 04/02/2012

Most people who do home schooling are not competent in even the basics. Recently observed a mediated case where the homeschooling parent was challenging an admission denial to a state college, and their own reading skills were 7th grade level and math skills were 3rd grade, basic science 1st grade and social studies 5th grade. Their 18 year old tested below them.

[seandinthea]

01:26 PM on 03/30/2012

Are the kids or parents paying these loans? I would hate to see it if they're taking out the loans in their kids' names

[vaygollybum]

12:16 PM on 03/30/2012

Some very poor hard working single Parents Have kids that do very well in school and in life. The advantage that these student have is a parent that insists that their children behave, study and do their homework. These parents do not let the TV be their babysetter and the children have chores which teaches them responsibility and other life skills.

[uaskigyrl]

11:01 AM on 03/30/2012

Student Loans are the next bubble to burst. What's going to happen when these parents can't afford to pay back these loans?

[lubell36]

01:09 PM on 03/30/2012

You make a good point, One thing to keep in mind in that the lwas around school loans give these companies very strong powers to collect- more tan other loans.

[teagle01]

11:00 AM on 03/30/2012

OMG. Really

[Truwriter]

10:20 AM on 03/30/2012

Its private education, its your choice. College is a choice that pays off with earning power five times that of non college grads and the unemployment rate for grads is less than 4% while its nearly 11% for non college grads. These are choices that people make. Public schools in many smaller areas are just as good as private schools because they teach in English, do not to tolerate gang bangers and illegals bringing the schools down. So go there. Or stand up, kick PC angst in the butt and demand that schools and especially the students/parents comply with educational goals first. Like every other part of society the liberal mentality has soiled evey public institution with stupid PC rules and a need to let the mud people ruin your children's lives. Make choices, go to private schools and go in debt, demand public school standards, or move to areas where there are not so many social problems.

[mashtoe]

10:48 AM on 03/30/2012

Its not a free market. The federal government interferes in many ways: work visas, bailouts, corporations (created by state law get special rights), trade with communist dictators, wars, corporate welfare, income taxed higher than capital gains, liberal immigration...and pn and on.