I owe roughly about $40,000 is student loans. This includes interest.
This equates to about half of all my school expenses, which includes much more than tuition, room and board. Though I'm proud to say I earned or worked my behind off to get the rest, it's always embarrassing to talk about.
I'm an inner city kid from Cleveland, Ohio. I also ask too many questions, hence my passion for journalism, which I'm studying. Unfortunately, I didn't ask enough questions when it came to going to college. I did apply for several scholarships both before and during my college experience, but the whole picture has always been a fuzzy one.
The hardest part about owing so much is knowing I am judged for my decision to go to school. If I had not gone to college I would be considered another statistical waste of space. As I am ending my college journey, people knowing this figure would say I did myself in and deserve everything coming to me. My answer to that is yes, I did, and maybe. They don't realize I resorted to the loan route because I had to. Little did I know I would go through all sorts of trials, like having funds snatched from me (this year it was nearly $3,000 taken away due to state budget cuts to a NEED-BASED grant) and scrambling to find a solution.
Even though I'm not as financially sound as I'd like to be, my experience has taught me so many things. Being enormously frugal is one. I do have my two indulgences, a MacBook Pro and an iPhone, but that is all of the electronics I own. Whenever people casually ask why I don't have a car, I want to scream that it would be a luxury for me. The last time I was at a mall was a couple of months ago to see a $5 movie. Before then it had been at least a year. I've also had my fair share of semesters without my needed books for class. In making my dreams a reality, it's all worth it though. I'm simply in awe of the fact that some students are literally punished for wanting to aspire to anything.
Even though the last four years of my life have been a financial nightmare, I am grateful for the experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. I chose my school carefully; I wanted an institution with great academics. I'm literally paying the price, but nowadays that's the cost of success for people like me. Above all else, one of my top priorities is making my family proud and showing this wasn't a waste of time or money.
Sec. Arne Duncan: Move Our Money From Banks to Students
Beverly Daniel Tatum: Why Historically Black Colleges Remain Relevant
"The reality is that today's students will likely have 2 or 3 careers, long periods of unemployment, work on contract (read sans benefits) and work outside their degree field for much of their work lives. We are entering a shift in how we are employed and how we earn our livings. College degrees, with their tremendous cost and rigid outcomes, don't fit well in this brave new world."
This is my argument, basically. The way the world is changing, a degree does not give the security it once offered. The ENTIRE world is changing, and people want to use an outdated way of doing things. We are in a "new normal". We get used to it or we suffer the consequences. Case in point, journalism, a great field of study and much needed social tool, but now with ireporter's, the internet, cam phones, , free or sampled software, anyone can make a podcast, youtube video or"show, website, blog..... all without a college degree, some no high school degree. I think this new normal that i spoke of, will(and should) get back to where higher education was WANTED for the sake of wanting to learn, scholarly studies, and not a check-in-the-box for that oh-so-sweet-gig. There are very intelligent, innovative people with no degree, and the way the new normal is looking.... they'll succeed and hire the people with degrees.
By the way, I don't think society inadequately funds education. From my experience, colleges waste tons of money on unnecessary expenses because they know that we will just take out more loans to pay for it. Inefficiency is what really drives up the cost of education.
Please check out BG's website and see how much tuition costs. When I began it was about $15,500 a year. Now it is at least $16,000.
The amount I borrowed (without interest) is $32,000. That covers roughly two years of education. Where I got "stuck" is that I went for a year as one major, then changed majors after a year and effectively tacking on another year of school. I completed gen eds in high school. Aside from a few classes, I came in only needing a couple gen eds and a year's worth of college credits.
I indeed earned and worked for the other half of my education. Do the math. $32,000 plus another $32,000 or so is about the cost of four years there, plus funds for books and such. With interest my total is an upwards of $40,000 now.
I am a student from a low income background and had a need-based grant, as I am living independently. You just don't get a need-based grant out of thin air, you have to qualify per state regulations.
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I really liked your video and would like to talk to you about an idea I have regarding my new website, Lily's List. Please contact me at info@lilyslist.com Thanks, Jennifer Taylor, president
Background: I started a new website called www.LilysList.com to help students pay down their debt by re-directing gifts to their actual student loan accounts. When we get enough members to attract advertising, our plan is to share the revenue. Just another tool to hopefully help.
The state downsized its budget and one of the places they took money from was aid to students who are on the lower end of the income spectrum (i.e. working class on down). It was snatched from me as, 1.) Those who had the grant were informed they no longer did only about two months before the semester began, and 2.) There was no plan set in place for those of us with anemic incomes as it is to acquire options, other than working more hours a week if you had a job---which I did. Luckily I love my job.
You must have skimmed my story, because I never said I was not responsible for my experience. I do not want "free money" earning my dues in not a problem. I am one of few people, in fact the first person from my neighborhood, to even go to college. Being from the inner city, frugality is a lifestyle, college simply helped me use it as an adult. Again, I earned the rest of my tuition or worked 20-30 hours per week to fund the rest. I believe that if the majority of those seeking college shouldn't have to bury themselves in debt is all. When a majority is having issues, something is wrong.
Question: When did you attend BG? $40k hasn't been sufficient in covering tuition costs since before I even enrolled. One semester alone is $8k-$9k.
-B.D.
I am the student in the above post.
I attended a state college with an accredited journalism program. Only three universities in my state have accredited schools, something that is vital to obtaining decent internships. I did not choose the priciest school by any stretch of the imagination. Now, In journalism it is extremely difficult get employers to even sneeze in your direction without an internship. Also, my original plan was to attend school for three years as I had finished just about all of my gen eds in a post secondary education program. I changed my major after the first year and it bumped my time in school back to four years. As for costs, state schools hover in annual costs of about $15,000 nowadays, and that's being on the modest side. One of my siblings goes to a university up the street, lives rent free at home and STILL owes no less than $25,000 right now. (Sorry ace, if you're reading).
The only problem with seeking a job rather than a career is it may make one miserable. Trust me. I come from the inner city where jobs, rather than careers, abound. I'm not knocking this at all, but in all honesty, for me it's either don't get an education and be another black kid* working at a fast food place, the kind Rush Limbaugh would have a ball ripping to shreds, or be who I am now.
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Also, technical skills are great--I've been a front end web developer since I was about 13-years-old--but technical skills will soon be scant as well with people flocking to whatever will get them out the whole the fastest. Certification is the buzzword of this decade. It doesn't matter what you know how to do, you have to either back it up with paper or get someone to hire you regardless. Both are exceedingly difficult to do.
Ultimately, this is what a H.S. student should consider:
Going to a school that offers the best balance of what you need. I did this, and actually earned about $30k through scholarships, grants and working on average 20-30 hours a week for four years. I am also an artist and sell work on the side.
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sucks. so is life.
it's worth it to do the work i want to. the alternative was bleak.
both you and I will still get jobs and pay off the debt (eventually).
anyone hiring recent ucla law grads in the la/nyc/sf area? haha
The reality is that today's students will likely have 2 or 3 careers, long periods of unemployment, work on contract (read sans benefits) and work outside their degree field for much of their work lives. We are entering a shift in how we are employed and how we earn our livings. College degrees, with their tremendous cost and rigid outcomes, don't fit well in this brave new world.
Certainly there is great value in the liberal education colleges provide. But it may make as much sense to choose shorter, more specific job training and accumulate less education debt in the face of a changing job marketplace.
Don't get me wrong. I love my education. But I could have made more money as an electrician than I have thru my BS in Business Admin. My life has been enriched by the liberal education part of my degree, but since the degree I have found many ways to enrich and broaden my life that are much less expensive.
Good luck to you, and kudos for pursuing our passion.