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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