Telling My Date About My Student Loan Debt

So, I was able to go on my date.  It wasn't much, but it was sure a lot of fun (and something I truly needed)!  We walked around, went to an Indian restaurant, and went to the park and had ice cream.  We also went to Target to get some school supplies (her idea -- she likes to buy stuff early).  I got a few notebooks.  I don't use a laptop in class, I like the old pen and paper method.

We talked a little bit about school.  I told her that I am going to law school and I mentioned how expensive it was.  She mentioned that she had some debt herself and that she was not crazy about having to take out loans, but she felt she had no other option.  She didn't seem put off by the fact that I have over $150k in debt.  I was scared to death to tell her this.  However, I did feel bad saying it.  It's a lot harder to say it than it is to just think about it.

In the park, while eating ice cream, I asked if she had a good time.  She said yes and continued to eat.  I think that is a good sign.  I had a good time too.  I am a bit old fashioned, so we did not kiss on the first date.

I felt good about myself for not letting my status as an indentured member of the higher education world hold me back on my date.  I never know how a person will react when I tell them of my debt.  I remember a few years ago telling a coworker of mine that I had about $50k in loans.  I remember his little mouth falling open and him gasping "wow".  It was the first time I felt bad about it.

College Loan Debt as "Good Debt"

Recently I listened to JDPainter on NPR state that he thought college debt was good debt.  I always heard the same thing.  Financial books would always speak of "good debt" and "bad debt" and the college loans were always on the good side (credit card debt is the bad stuff).  However, it's starting to change to where college loans are seen as bad debt.  I think any debt that gets a person's jaw to drop is bad debt.

How to tell someone about your college loans.

Since I mentioned I told my date about my college loans, and survived, I wanted to post a blog entry about telling a friend or girlfriend/boyfriend about your college loan debt.  Telling someone else about college debt can be terrifying.  If that person is someone you find yourself wanting to be with, telling them about debt can be horrifying.  So, how does one tell another person about the massive loans they took out?

1.  Stay Cool.

First, you don't want to appear scared yourself about the debt.  If you are scared about your college loan debt, chances are you will scare the other person with them.  You will want to make them feel that you feel at least someone secure in the debt.  For example, you may say the following:

"I have a debt load from my education.  I just wanted to let you know.  It's about $185,678.22, give or take."

2.  Pick a good time.

Picking a good time to tell that other person about your debt is a great idea.  Imagine it like asking for their hand in marriage.  The situation has to be right.  For example, you would not want to ask that other person to marry you in Wal-Mart (or would you?).

You may want to consider a relaxed place, like a park or the beach.  Further, you could consider looking presentable.  Dressed up maybe?  Also, don't tell him/her if he/she is having a bad day.

3.  Show you are in control.

Showing the other person that you have control over the situation is important.  Mention that you are fully aware and committed to programs such as IBR and the like.  However, don't flat out lie.  Don't say, "my school pop's out grads who start at $75k min, but most of us are on track to make $160k."  Even if the schools said it to you, you don't want to spread that kind of information.  On the same token, don't say that you expect to be destitute and never able to pay back a dime.

4.  Turn it into a positive.

It's kind of crazy, but one can make that massive debt seem like a good thing.  How, you ask?  Well, you can state that it's your chance to spread your legs...err wings I mean.  For example, state that you have always been drawn to the exotic.  Canada, Cambodia, South Korea, New Zealand (this helps a lot if she/he likes Lord of the Rings or Xena: Warrior Princess), or Costa Rica are all said to be nice places to live free of student debt.  If she has longed to travel, this may be appealing.  Of course, some people are terrified of leaving the United States, and this may not be the most positive idea.  If that is the case, you can ignore this particular advice.



5.  Get him/her to believe that you find it to be somewhat worth it.

For example, you can say that "I have always wanted to go to college, and I am the first in my family to do it.  Further, this law degree is something that was important to me.  On balance, I feel like I am one step closer to achieving the goals that I set out for myself."  This shows that you are a "go-getter" or goal minded.  People seem to respect people who create a goal and go towards it.  Tell that other person that your next goal is to tackle your debt (or emigrate to Kenya).  Chances are they will swoon like no other.

***

There is a chance the other person may be put off by your telling them about your student loan debt.  If that is the case, you are better off telling her now than waiting until later.  Why waste time with someone who will not understand that you come debt saddled?  There are plenty of people out there who have debt of their own and still long for someone like you.  Telling that other person is hard, but in the end, you will feel better for having done it.  Believe it or not, there are some very nice lovable people out there who are more impressed with someone who has a college degree and don't care too much about the debt.  It's romantic to have to tackle something together.  And yes, many of these people still have all their teeth!

I would like to end this post with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by Bad Religion.  I don't know why, but it seems fitting:

You Are (The Government)
Bad Religion, Suffer 1988


Hey sit down and listen and they'll tell you when you're wrong.
Eradicate but vindicate as "progress" creeps along.
Puritan work ethic maintains its subconscious edge
As Old Glory maintains your consciousness.
There's a loser in the house, and a puppet on the stool,
And a crowded way of life, and a black reflecting pool,
And as the people bend, the moral fabric dies,
The country can't pretend to ignore its people's cries.
You are the government.
You are jurisprudence.
You are the volition.
You are juridiction.
And I make a difference too.

Law School Attitudes

There are many attitudes regarding the law school system.  They range from the attitudes of the scam bloggers, who tend to be angry at the system which pooped them out with less than they entered with.  Big debt and little job prospects are the issues that the scambloggers seem to take.  Further issues include a total disregard for economic principles by a system known as the ABA.

There are some who love the law school system.  The deans and many of the professors (but not all) seem to really enjoy it.  And why would they not?  It seems like an easy enough job.  Maybe not as easy as some say.  However, to be paid $100-200k a year, and sometimes more, to teach a few classes and correct some essays once a semester doesn't seem like a bad gig.  To be honest, I'd take it. 

Then there are the lethargic students who I come in contact with.  They are very quiet about a lot of things, so I can't really gauge what they are thinking.  Many seem to not know about the real job market, although many are scared.  However, few are at the point as another scamblogger, JDPainterGuy, where they wish they never went to law school in the first place.

Some individuals are very depressed.  They are at the point of suicidal thoughts and thinking that their life will never be the same again.  One individual posted a comment on another law school blog relating to a plumber friend he knew that made an exceptional amount of money. 

Times have changed. I would trade my degrees to be able to have a job where I know things will get better, where I know I will not be replaced by a slave from the third world, and where I know that some political force would intervene on my behalf when things looked bleak. I would do this even if it meant working physically hard.

There are worse things in life than working with your hands, and when I finally decide to blow my brains out to end my mental anguish, I will have been living proof of it.

This is where I do not want to be.  However, at the same time, I understand that it is very hard to not feel down sometimes when you expected life to turn out a lot differently.  Many of the lethargic students at the law school where I attend will probably one day feel this way.  They still have expectations of law being a glamorous and wealth creating profession for anyone who can get a 148 on the LSAT. 



Many of these students have not looked at a 'scamblog' nor have they really got to see the life of a lawyer after law school.  Before I enrolled I had no idea what a lawyer did (other than what I saw from a couple episodes of Perry Mason.  Plus, Captain Picard in Star Trek the Next Generation does a bit of lawyering in a couple of the episodes).  Sadly, the big feeder web forum for law students, Top-Law-Schools, will stop at nothing to block links to scamblogs.  Nando's opus, ThirdTierReality has been redubbed "T14 Paradise".  If anything, it is a tyrannical mockery of the intelligence of a breed of people who has been told over and over that they are some of society's smartest individuals (a point that I seriously question -- many law students I have come in contact with show no more intelligence than many undergrads).  If anything, TLS (the dungheap of the law world) is doing their students an injustice by not allowing them to see alternative facts and make up their own still-developing and often childlike minds. 

I think that there is some importance to the power of positive thinking.  I think that telling yourself day after day that your life is worthless is not the right path to take.  Just because you did not do well in the legal field after believing you would does not make you a bad person.  There is still much that a person can do to better themselves and live a great life.  Although you may not make $160,000 a year in law, nor do you have any connections, you can still contribute something to the world.  I am saddened when I see a person state that they want to off themselves because of law school.  While three years and $200-300k is a lot of money, a life is worth much more.  I would propose taking some time out of your day and forgetting about law school and asking yourself what you want to do with the remainder of your life.  It is hard with student loans and debt, but nobody can take your life from you.  Why would you take it away from yourself?

---

By the way, for some reason this blog was not allowing comments.  It now allows comments from anyone (anonymous included), so if you want to say something, feel free. 

Finding a Job as a Law Student

I got friends in high places, where the money pours in and the women chase their non-existent blues away.  They'll be okay...

Sometimes I look at my life and I look at the things which are lacking.  I have never worked a real job, nor have I ever had a real income (I once worked part time at $13.25 an hour which was really nice at the time).  However, that being said, the idea of working in the private sector scares me greatly.  After some of the places I have worked, I have found myself unhappy.  For example, in the jobs I have found myself at, people tend to only fend for themselves, and really not care about the feelings of the employee.  At the same time, the employee is told that the customer, no matter how wrong, is always right.  No matter what they say or do, they are right, and we are wrong. 

I want to change my outlook on life.  I do not want to think that my life is lacking.  I do not want to think that I would be happier in some position making money.  I tell myself that I would one day like a piece of land or something like that (I am starting to get sick of apartment living).  However, I feel at the current rate of my earnings in life, that is a long time off.  I mean, if I can't even get a summer job at Starbucks, how am I supposed to bring in a solid income?  What was the point of my Bachelor's degree if I can't use it to find a barista job?  It is really annoying to me, as I spent a lot of time and money, and lived in relative squalor to achieve it.  After it was said and done, the friends I had in high school who decided to not go to college are making far more than I do.  It is crazy, to say the least.

For example, this semester I will get $11,000 in living expenses in loans.  My rent is $1,300, which is far more than I wanted to pay, but it took me a long time to get the place I have here in NY, as I did not have a cosigner, I have no job and income, and every other landlord I talked to said they would not take a student.  For five months that comes out to be $6,500 in rent.  Then I need books and money to get to school, food and utilities (I don't eat much, nor do I go out and 'enjoy life').  Further, I will need to put some money aside for next summer, as I don't get aid in the summer (will be graduated) and what am I to do then?  How will I pay rent without any money coming in?

I find myself thinking that even if I was lucky enough to make $35,000 a year I would be doing far better than I ever have.  In fact, after being in college most of my adult life, I have never once had that kind of money come in during a year.  With my frugal lifestyle I could probably save up something, and on top of that, with an income I could probably get a cheaper apartment.  Since I don't drive and rarely go out, I would be saving more.  If anything, college has taught me to be frugal and cheap.  I have realized I don't require much to live on, nor do I find myself wanting much.  I have realized that most material possessions are a waste of time and money.  Yet, at the same time, I would like to make some type of money.  Is it really that hard to find a decent job?  Hell, I am at the point right now that if I could find something, almost anything for $35,000 I would quit law school in a heartbeat.

In a heartbeat...

Some US Cities offering to *help* pay off student loans!

A recent article from Yahoo (the king of all news) states:

In Niagara Falls, N.Y., a man shortly will attempt a daring feat—and he isn't Nik Wallenda: Seth Piccirillo, Niagara Falls' new director of community development, will attempt to lure young professionals to live in his city's beleaguered downtown, which for decades has been hemorrhaging residents--young ones especially.

He'll do it, he says, by offering to help them pay down their college loans. Here and there around the U.S.—from rural Kansas to Detroit—communities concerned over shrinking, aging populations are attempting novel experiments to attract the young and zippy. If they're not offering to pay off student loans, they're dangling other incentives aimed at budding professionals.

Niagara Falls' population 50 years ago teetered at 100,000. Then it began to fall and today it's half of what it was. If by the time of the next census it's under 50,000, leaders fear the city will risk the loss of some forms of federal assistance.

"We've lost a lot of talent, a lot of brain power," admits Piccirillo. "For 50 years we've been asking ourselves: how do we keep our young people?" The city, he says, never really had a plan. Now it does: It will attract them from elsewhere by offering to pay their student loans.

The city is putting an initial $200,000 behind the idea. The first applications should arrive in the next couple of months, says Piccirillo, but "The graduating class of 2013 will be our first real swing at it."

He says he got the idea by reading news headlines. "College debt is at the forefront of so many stories you see now," he says. "The New York Times just reported that student debt has topped $1 trillion; 94 percent of students now have some amount of debt." At the same time, he says, Niagara needs those very same graduates. "We need to grow our population base. Having young professionals is the key to a modern economy." The solution seemed obvious: Offer debt relief to attract graduates.
Under Niagara Falls' plan, graduates who have earned a 2- or 4-year degree in the past two years can apply for up to $3,500 a year (for two years) towards repayment of their student loans. The same deal would be offered to graduate students. Graduates of Niagara University and Niagara County Community College will be targeted at first, though the city hopes eventually to recruit graduates from other parts of the country.
To qualify, applicants will have to rent an apartment or buy a home within a designated downtown area. "We're not talking city-wide. We're taking acres," explains Piccirillo. "There's no doubt in my mind that getting even 100 to 150 people could revitalize the neighborhood."

In rural Kansas, a similar experiment is underway.
Fifty counties in the state have established Rural Opportunity Zones (ROZs) authorized to offer one or both of the following financial incentives to new full-time residents: Kansas income tax waivers for up to five years and/or student loan repayments up to $15,000.

To be eligible for loan repayments, applicants must hold an associate's, bachelor's or post-graduate degree; must have an outstanding student loan balance; and must establish residency in a ROZ county.

Chris Harris, manager of the Kansas program, says the idea is "to provide incentives for rural counties that have lost population over past decades." Applicants can come from any state. To date, he's received 338 applications, of which 111 have been from people out of state. About 75 percent qualify for one or both of the incentives. Applications now are being received at the rate of one a day.

"Our hope was that we'd get young professionals to move," he says. "Physicians, nurses, lawyers, accountants. And that's what we have seen--health professionals, teachers, veterinarians, accountants and a surprising number of lawyers. Our hope in the beginning was to attract individuals who would have a disproportionate economic impact on a region."

By way of example, he points to Dr. Aaron Zook, who, after doing his medical residency in Denver, relocated to rural Pratt, Kan., in part because of Kansas' debt-reduction offer. Zook told KSN TV in an interview that he had student loans totaling about $200,000. "Any help I can get is going to be real nice," he said.
So well is the Kansas program working that Harris' office has received expressions of interest from Nebraska, which, he says, is interested in establishing a similar relocation incentive.

Piccirillo in Niagara Falls says he's under no illusions that his debt repayment plan will fix his city's population problem. "Some have said that this, in and of itself, won't fix the city. And that's accurate."

Houses need to be spruced up. Old buildings need to be demolished. Concerns about crime and public safety will have to be addressed. But he points to other cities that have earned a new lease on life by reviving just a few square blocks.

One in particular inspires him: the Columbia City neighborhood of southeast Seattle, which, he says, was depressed, crime-ridden and post-industrial before renovation. "They set up a young and artistic neighborhood in a small area that included yoga studios, music venues, coffee houses. If you do a search online for Seattle, you'll see you'd want to spend time in Columbia City. That's the model in our minds."

He looks forward to the day when downtown Niagara Falls would be ranked with Columbia City among the top 10 neighborhoods in the U.S.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/student-loans-cities-offering-pay-debt-gain-young-204138733--abc-news-money.html

Personally, I don't know how well this is going to work.  Moving to these areas is not cheap.  It may cost a single person close to $3500 to move (although it can be done cheaper).  However, with the cost of finding a new apartment, u-haul rental, the cost of getting used to a new city (finding inexpensive stores to shop at, getting a feel for the best deals), and finding a job with no connection in an area that is probably low on jobs, it may not be worth it. 

I am sure there is much more that can be said about this.  In an age where $3500 pays for an undergraduate course at many schools (before the interest on the loans becomes ticking), such a small amount will not do many people much good.  And, according to the comments on Yahoo, there's plenty of people ready to sign up and move. 

Heck, some people will have $3,500 added to their loan balance in interest payments just in the amount of time it takes to move! 

They want to keep you in school forever...

A friend of mine was recently talking to me.  She was telling me how that her liberal arts program of study will now take an extra semester to finish.  Further, she has been in school for almost four years now full time.  Further, the last semester she has been taking 18 credits, which is the maximum allowed for her school, unless she can get permission from the dean to take more credits.  Yet, she will have to take another full semester of classes, at 18 credits, after the four years, in order to graduate.

She is worried about her loans as well.  She will not get a Pell Grant.  Further, since she goes to a private school, all her loan money will be going to towards tuition.  She has nothing left over for housing or food.  In fact, she tells me that she will actually owe some after her maximum government loans are taken out in order to pay tuition.

I recently was talking to an aunt of mine who went to a private school many years ago.  This aunt is a Baby Boomer.  Wikipedia defines baby boomer as:

A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom between the years 1946 and 1964, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even within a given territory. Different groups, organizations, individuals, and scholars may have widely varying opinions on what constitutes a baby boomer, both technically and culturally. Ascribing universal attributes to a broad generation is difficult, and some observers believe that it is inherently impossible. Nonetheless, many people have attempted to determine the broad cultural similarities and historical impact of the generation, and thus the term has gained widespread popular usage.

United States birth rate (births per 1000 population). The red segment from 1946 to 1964 is the postwar baby boom.

Baby boomers are associated with a rejection or redefinition of traditional values; however, many commentators have disputed the extent of that rejection, noting the widespread continuity of values with older and younger generations. In Europe and North America boomers are widely associated with privilege, as many grew up in a time of widespread government subsidies in post-war housing and education, and increasing affluence. As a group, they were the wealthiest, most active, and most physically fit generation to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time. They were also the generation that received peak levels of income, therefore they could reap the benefits of abundant levels of food, apparel, retirement programs, and sometimes even "midlife crisis" products.

One feature of Boomers was that they tended to think of themselves as a special generation, very different from those that had come before. In the 1960s, as the relatively large numbers of young people became teenagers and young adults, they, and those around them, created a very specific rhetoric around their cohort, and the change they were bringing about.^[5] This rhetoric had an important impact in the self perceptions of the boomers, as well as their tendency to define the world in terms of generations, which was a relatively new phenomenon.

The baby boom has been described variously as a "shockwave" and as "the pig in the python." By the sheer force of its numbers, the boomers were a demographic bulge that remodeled society as it passed through it.

The term Generation Jones has sometimes been used to distinguish those born from 1954 onward from the earlier Baby Boomers.  (Source: Wikipedia.org)

***

My aunt told me that her tuition at a private four year college was free of charge.  Further, she told me that she was done with her four year program in three and a half years.  I could not help but shake my head at this.  Of course, when tuition is free they will rush you out.  When you pay close to $35,000 a year, they will try to keep you forever.

The truth is, four year college programs are taking people far longer than four years.  Further, people are told that it is alright to change their majors halfway into the program.  In fact, they are told that it is not only okay, it is normal.  I know of some people who change their majors like they change their underwear, once every few months.  It's quite crazy.

Shouldn't college take less time if it is more expensive?  Young people are getting screwed over with high tuition costs and at the same time being told that they have to spend another six months to a year in school in order to finish their program of study.  If you drop out you'll be another person with 'some college' experience, which society tells you is bad.  If you finish that degree you started, you will be another college graduate in a world saturated with grads.  Colleges want you to finish and they will milk you like a bovine every step of the way.

Boomers tend to have no clue the price of an education these days.  They went for free, yet think at the same time, we should all be able to pay our loans.  Some may say: go to a public college.  That's not cheap, either.  In fact, some public schools charge more than private schools used to charge a couple of decades ago.  Maybe less.  

Further, we are told that since there are so many regular four year graduates out there that we need a graduate degree.  Like undergraduate schools, law schools are taking anyone with a pulse.  LSAT scores, once necessary to enter law school, have been relaxed.  Now a GMAT might get you into some schools.  The barriers to entry are being knocked down all in the name of the almighty dollar.  A legal education is not about creating lawyers.  It's about making money -- for the schools.  As I speak, a handful of schools are preparing to become accredited.  Chances are that they all will be.  Further, there are talks of ABA law schools popping up in other countries, such as China.  Outsourcing law schools?  Is this for real?  (Law.com -- Law Schools in China?).

Higher education reform will have to happen.  But who will pay the price?  The boomers?  Unlikely.  It will probably end up being those who are being pumped into the educational system right now.  It will probably be us who are taking out six figure loans in order to finish our education.  It will be those who were conditioned and fed that education was the path to the American dream.  And while it could be argued that nobody had a gun to our heads, and that we have free choice (which is true), the punishment is quite harsh.  Why should schools be allowed to create four year programs that run on for five years and charge insane amounts of money for it?  Why should there be more law schools than the legal economy can support?  Why should legal education be outsourced just as e-discovery? 

Student Loan Debt | Law School Suicide?

I have read that suicide in the law profession is one of the highest amongst all professions.  I am no lawyer yet, nor do I know if I ever will be one.  However, I must say that as of late, the thoughts of suicide have come into my mind.  Late at night, lingering in my mind.  Consuming my thoughts.  Penetrating my psyche.

First, I don't think of myself as a suicide risk.  I have played with the idea years ago of ending my life, but now I have things in my life that are too precious to kill myself for.  My family, my pets, my friends, my World of Warcraft account with a level 85 Restoration Druid, Warlock, 2 Mages, and a Priest.  The Warlock alone probably makes my life worth keeping around, as I have gotten immense pleasure off leveling him.  For the Horde!

When I was very young, around 18ish, I once played around in a chat room, depressed out of my mind about a girl that I thought I loved who dumped me.  I told the chat room that I would kill myself!  Later that night the police came by to check up on me.  I told them that I was not going to kill myself.  It seems that some woman in that chat room called the cops on me.  That's when I realized that it was not good to even talk about suicide.  No one in my family ever found out about this dark event.

For the last few nights I have found myself awake late into the night, depressed out of my mind.   I have read things on these scam blogs that people in society do not understand.  I started college a few years ago hoping that I would one day make a decent living.  I thought I would be happy with around $50,000 a year.  In fact, coming from a very poor background, that seemed like a huge amount of money to me.  As I graduated with a bachelor's degree, I realized I would be happy with $30,000, but the chances of me getting it seemed nil.  So, I went on to law school, figuring I could make at least that amount and have a "respectable" career.  Now, it turns out, that dream was not really viable.  In fact, while I may find a job that pays decently, chances are I won't.  It's not a good bet.  And not one that should be taken lightly.  It's a losers game. 


Anyway, late in the night, while staring up at the ceiling, trying to focus my mind on something besides law school I found myself playing with the idea of offing myself.  I realized that this was not something I should be thinking about, as I have much to live for, and it made me feel even worse.  How could I have gotten to this point?  How could I, during 1L, have had so much hope for the future, and now, being a 2L, feel that it's all a waste?  It's all dismal.  It's not worth it.  I feel that I am going to, in the end, only have debt to show for my accomplishments.  I feel in the end, all I will be remembered for is that guy in the family who got so much education but had so much debt and never could find a real job.  It's a sobering and depressing thought, and perhaps my greatest challenge-greater than the torts final and corporations final, and taxation final will be learning to live with the fact.  The fact that I am doomed to failure.  The fact that I really had no chance at all. 

I made a mistake.  And a costly one.  One that will surely haunt me for the remainder of my life.  Keep this in mind, 0L's, as you begin your education.  Think about taking a couple years off, trying to find a decent job, and forgetting about law school until some changes are made.  You have all your lives to go to law school.  It will be around in a decade.  Until then, get some good experience in the real world, and try your hand at paying back that undergraduate debt.  Chances are you will realize that you were better off not going to law school.  Chances are you will find something more valuable than learning the coveted black letter law.  Your time, dear reader, is better spent than learning how to brief a one hundred year old case.

Bankruptcy for Student Loan Debt?

It has been said that bankruptcy should be allowed for student loan debt.   When I first heard this, I was not sure what to think.   However, as time passed by and I started to think of the situation regarding student loan money being granted to individuals and how this debt plagues some very hardworking people, I started to understand the case for allowing students to declare bankruptcy in order to remove their student loans.

People go to college, generally, to gain the skills to enter the workforce.  Some individuals go to college for seven years or more.   This is the case with law students.  However, due to the current economy, many law students are finding that there are no jobs for them.  Yet, what is there for them is six digit student loan debt.  Furthermore, many students were sucked into the higher education system as a result of being told all their lives that college was not an option, but a necessity.  That in order to be even remotely successful in life, you need a college education.

Sadly, many students are finishing college, expecting to land a good job that allows them to be a productive member of society and reap the rewards for their labor.  However, many students will never have home ownership (or will have to defer it) or will not be able to secure credit for their own business.   Many will be stuck with a very limited income after college, barely able to pay back these massive loans.

Many people go to college in order to do something better with their lives.   The opportunity cost of college is high.  One must defer the earning of income in order to attend college.  This income could be used to pay for a down payment on a house, to start a new business, or to be invested towards retirement.  The person who does not choose college will not have to worry about student loan debt. The person who goes to college feels that he or she is making a responsible choice.  A choice that will benefit them and their family in the years to come.  However, upon graduating, many students are inundated with student loan debt (some also have credit card and other debt, which I will ignore here). This debt is often crippling.  The student can try to enter the workforce with their college degree, but often they will realize that the jobs are just not there.   Therefore, the graduate schools make their siren calls, offering the life of glitz and glamor.  Come continue your education, and reap even greater rewards than your peers.   Young men and women fall for this.   Our parents, teachers, and the rest of society tells us that this is the right choice.  More school is always good.   The more education you have the better off you will be.  However, the reality is, if you can not find work, you will only be in more debt.

Six figure debt is said to be life crippling.  Many people have years of depression ahead of them when they realize that the rest of their youth will be spent trying to pay off this debt instead of doing the things, such as starting a family, buying a home, starting a business, etc. etc. that their less educated friends are able to do.   They were told to go to college, that it was the responsible thing to do, and in the end their reward is a life of desolation.  And they are told, unlike their less educated counterparts, that they can not discharge that debt.  They are told that, even though they worked for years on getting a degree, that the debt is there to haunt them for the rest of their life.

Some individuals are unable to pay such debt, and are saddled with extra payments.  Payments that spiral out of control due to compound interest.  Other individuals flee from the United States, feeling that the only way to escape the debt is to leave their homeland behind.  They become known as the student loan debt pariahs.

One reason that this debt has got out of control is that student loan amounts have grown like crazy.   A person should not be allowed to take out over $200,000 in loans for higher education.   In fact, an individual should not be allowed to take out over $100,000 in loans.  Why?  Because when the loan rates are increased, the tuition increases in step with it.  In fact, college tuition has risen faster than the cost of medical care, yet which of the two gets the most media attention?  Most of the college students I have spoken to have no idea how fast college tuition increases!

The higher education system is one of the biggest businesses in the United States.  It is truly a business in every sense of the world. Ride the New York subway system and see the trains plastered with ads from schools you have never even heard of.  Watch television and see advertisements from multitudes of schools.   Drive around the country and see billboards advertising colleges.  Anyone can join now, thanks to the ease of student loan debt.  If student loan debt was capped, the schools would be forced to reduce their tuition.   Society now thinks that education is a right for all, and people would be angry at the idea that their kids could not go to college, so schools would be forced to reduce their tuition in order to allow everyone to go to college.  To have to pay $40-50,000 for a year of education is ludicrous.  As I said in a previous post, one could go from New York or Los Angeles to Cancun or another tropical locale for the same price as a week of class at some schools.  It truly is out of control.

Well meaning parents tell their children that they have to go to college.  They give up much time that they could be earning money in order to learn to be a better member of society.  They are told what they are doing is great.  Their families celebrate their choice.  They endure 4-7 years of higher education, and then, as a result, are not able to partake in the joys of humanity.  There is something wrong with this picture.   I say let there be some kind of bankruptcy protection for student loans. Maybe after five years.  If a person is unable to find work, why should they be a slave to debt for the remainder of their life?  Why should a well meaning individual not be able to partake in the ability to own a home or start a business?

I say this, because I imagine I will never own a home or property.  At one time I thought I would, but now I realize that the course I have chosen will be to my detriment.   I don't know if I would file for bankruptcy if given the choice, I have come to terms with the reality of the situation and use this blog to warn others and to express myself.   While there is a stigma with filing for bankruptcy, there are some cases in which bankruptcy for student loans is necessary.  Why should the college graduate who worked hard for almost a decade be told that he can not file for bankruptcy, when the higher education system is to blame for the insane and out of control prices of college and graduate school?