Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Pondering College and Student Loan Debt - Time to Stop the Madness


I have one kid finishing up his sophomore year in college and one kid finishing up her senior year in high school with her post-high school decision still looming, so needless to say I am right in the middle of dealing with how to pay for college.  One thing is for certain; as a country we are out of control with college debt.  It seems the more I read about it and the more casual conversations I have with other parents about it the more shocked I become.

There seems to be a prevailing mentality out there that you do whatever you have to do to get your kid through a 4 year college.  If that means taking on massive debt then so be it.  The conventional wisdom is that it will pay off in the long run.  But for more and more young people it’s not paying off the way they thought it would.  It doesn’t necessarily guarantee them a good paying job in their choice of careers.  I was reading just the other day that only one third of college graduates get jobs upon graduation in their chosen career. (https://hbr.org/2016/05/two-thirds-of-college-grads-struggle-to-launch-their-careers) And in 2014 51% of college grads were in jobs that did not require a degree. (http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=10%2F9%2F2014&id=pr846&ed=10%2F9%2F2099) There are more and more baristas and bartenders out there with four year degrees.  Many of whom have large monthly student loan payments. 

I believe young people and their parents need to start asking the tough questions about whether or not college is the right choice.  Many college grads would have been far better off going to a tech school and learning a trade.  The average college debt in 2016 was $37,172 and the average monthly payment was $351.00. (https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/).  On a personal level I have talked to many who are saddled with student loan debt far worse than that.  For some it was a worthwhile investment; for many others it has not been.  I actually spoke to a parent the other day who was figuring her child would have to come out of college with around $100.000.00 in debt, as if she had no other choice.

It’s time to stop the madness.  We have lots of other choices.  Community College, Junior College, tech schools, on line learning, enlisting in the Military and letting them pay, and working full time your first year out of high school to save up first are a few options that come to mind.  We need to get away from this idea that our kids are somehow missing out if they don’t immediately go into a 4 year school upon high school graduation.  They will survive and might even learn some valuable life lessons along the way.  And don’t even get me started on the cost of fraternities and sororities.

Since this is a blog with a Christian emphasis let me close with a couple of thoughts based on what the bible has to say about debt.  Romans 13:8b states Don’t’ run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe to each other. (The Message) The book of Proverbs has a good deal to say about going into debt.  I think my favorite one would be Proverbs 22:7 - The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. (N.I.V.)  I think that depicts perfectly what debt can do to us.  It makes us slaves.  We have to get through life with a massive ball in chain we call debt.  It’s just not worth it and as parents we certainly don’t want to saddle our kids with it.  I am thankful to be able to say that our son will graduate with no debt and depending on the choice our daughter makes she will graduate with either a small monthly payment or no debt as well.  As parents we all should do what we can to help our kids make wise decisions in this area.  They may not thank us initially, but they definitely will down the road.      

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