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How much college debt do you or your kids have?

How much college debt do you or your kids have?


  • Total voters
    44
  • Poll closed .
I voted no college debt.
Our oldest son did get some student loans since we had two in college at the time and two in elementary school.
We paid of his loans within 5 years.

We paid tuition , room and book and books.

All of children did have summer jobs and paid for some of their living expenses.

All 4 of children have college degrees and our youngest is finishing up her masters and will graduate this December.
 
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After reading the balance of college debt nationally I just wonder how many here have it and why you have it? Did you not save for college? plan for college? Go to an expensive school just for the experience? why? why? why?

The Montgomery GI Bill paid me to go to college. I was fortunate. I didn't have to borrow any money to attend college. It's a good thing too. My income has dropped $10,000 per year since graduating. :thumbdown

Were you supposed to earn $1,000,000 more over your lifetime or $1,000,000 less over your lifetime? Perhaps I read the pamphlet wrong.
 
After reading the balance of college debt nationally I just wonder how many here have it and why you have it? Did you not save for college? plan for college? Go to an expensive school just for the experience? why? why? why?

My mother had 50k for college for me. But the conditions were that I start when she told me to start, go where she told me to go, and study what she wanted me to study. I told her to stuff it and left the country to travel, and consequently, I lost the college fund. It was the right call, and I still think so.

I went back to school when I was ready to go back. It's as simple as that. I'm in about 5k of debt from the college I've done so far. Mostly at a 2-year, in order to save on my generals. I don't care about "prestige." Anyway, the debt I have is just now coming into repayment, and it's going to get dump-paid within the month, so that's no problem.

I'm taking a break from school now to do some resume-building work and consider where I want to go to 4-year to finish out my BA. I will go some place with a good program for what I want, in a city that will be advantageous to me when I get out. Still mulling over my options.

I currently have enough money from saving and investments to pay my entire tuition outright at most public universities. I'm going to wait a bit longer. I reckon within a year I'll have enough to also cover a lot of living expenses. If I get lucky, maybe even buy an apartment.

So, all in all, things worked out quite well for me. I did it my way, even though I had to find the resources myself, but that's actually a really good feeling. And as it turns out, my way is going to leave me a lot better off than most of my peers, who are in anywhere from 40k to 100k of debt right now.
 
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This sounds a tad judgmental…. I went to an inexpensive (relative) state school, and even lived at home for the first two years. My parents paid for it, but the bill was well over 30,000 total. How on earth is a teenager supposed to save for that so they don't have any debt when they graduate?

I did. I worked full time (more than full time for some of it) and carried a full class load and paid for every penny out of my own pocket. My parents never paid a dime. I never had any debt at all. It's not that hard, it just takes commitment.
 
After reading the balance of college debt nationally I just wonder how many here have it and why you have it? Did you not save for college? plan for college? Go to an expensive school just for the experience? why? why? why?

This sounds a tad judgmental….

You think so?
 
I have about $15K in college debts now. That's down from ~ $20K when I graduated last year. The other half of my college was paid for by an investment fund that my grandparents started when I was born. I owe them a lot of gratitude!

I'm also a strong saver and I have a finance degree. Meaning that I've structured an investment account that is earning a higher return rate (barring any future economic woes) than my loan interest rate to automatically pay the monthly minimum on my loans. Hopefully the only thing I'll have to do is cash out the principle after the loans are paid back.

The Montgomery GI Bill paid me to go to college. I was fortunate. I didn't have to borrow any money to attend college. It's a good thing too. My income has dropped $10,000 per year since graduating. :thumbdown
Take the Millennial's approach to working? That's a "Screw you, I'm going to move from job to job until I find someone who pays me well" attitude.
 
NONE. My two kids had their college paid for my my wife and I. Our deal with them was we would pay for their college tuition and books, plus they could live at home the entire time and we even provided them with transportation. If they wanted to live away and go to college - that portion would be on them. Having taught high school for a very very long time and mostly senior level classes, I knew firsthand the motivation behind many if not most kids going away to college.

For my own college education - I worked my way through and paid it myself also living at home to save money.
 
My wife and I don't have kids yet, and neither of us has any student loan debt at the moment. We had roughly $100,000 between the two of us when we graduated college though.
 
I went to a better school with better opportunities with more humpf than I could have afforded by either by working my way through or borrowed my way through.

not sure I understand, I know engineering majors that went to big schools out east that have the same jobs as guys that to smaller local colleges.
 
Take the Millennial's approach to working? That's a "Screw you, I'm going to move from job to job until I find someone who pays me well" attitude.

I make $8 an hour. That's fine for now. Nobody is going to pay me much more than that. My area is filled with college graduates just like me. I'm not the only person that went to school for free.
 
Take the Millennial's approach to working? That's a "Screw you, I'm going to move from job to job until I find someone who pays me well" attitude.

Would you mind elaborating on this? Could you give examples of Millennial's approach versus non-Millennial's approach? I think I know what you are saying but I'm not 100% sure.
 
I have none. When I was an undergrad my parents and I split my tuition, so I just got factory jobs over summer to pay my half and had jobs during the semester for housing/beer/food/blah. When I went to grad school, I got paid because I majored in Physics and you don't pay for graduate school in science.


You're damn right we don't!
 
No college debt. Never finished college, but I paid off my student loans all three times I dropped out-- twice from working and once out of my Social Security pension.
 
When I went to grad school, I got paid because I majored in Physics and you don't pay for graduate school in science.

Even the humanities and social science PhDs go for free here and at most places, far as i know.
 
my kid grads lawl schrool next May 300K plus, in the hole

I don't get it. What are you trying to say?



The individual has a child who is in Law School and will graduate next may, I'm assuming the total student debt is then $300,000 for undergraduate and law school combined.

My daughter is in law school and tuition and books run about $45,000 a year and that doesn't include living expenses. Law School is 3-years.



>>>>
 
After reading the balance of college debt nationally I just wonder how many here have it and why you have it? Did you not save for college? plan for college? Go to an expensive school just for the experience? why? why? why?


Why not?

I got thru school with a minimum of debt, and I have three kids who are going to be starting college every two years, so I'll have eight straight years of college, six of them with two kids. minimum. I expect at some point each kid will be getting a small loan, because I think having a little 'skin in the game' is important.

But for those who cant afford it, its pretty clear that the earnings from getting a four year degree over a lifetime are massively higher than no college, so I'd consider the debt to be an investment, not an expense. Of course, you dont have to blow your investment on the most expensive college you can find, but often the colleges that cost more will lead to much better opportunities, and therefore, better earning power and more importantly, better quality of life.
 
Would you mind elaborating on this? Could you give examples of Millennial's approach versus non-Millennial's approach? I think I know what you are saying but I'm not 100% sure.
My parents or grandparents would want to work at the same employer until they got promoted.

I've had 3 different jobs at different companies in the past year and a half. I thought the first was too low paying, so I spent a couple weeks applying to jobs in the Midwest, turned a few offers down and then moved to Chicago. Then I worked there for 6 months before getting sick of it and finding my current job. Got a substantial pay raise with each move.

... but it seems most people my age do that.
 
After reading the balance of college debt nationally I just wonder how many here have it and why you have it? Did you not save for college? plan for college? Go to an expensive school just for the experience? why? why? why?

I don't have any but most of my friends that do...they just went to expensive schools in order to be competitive in the job market. Their parents couldn't afford to foot the bill.
 
After reading the balance of college debt nationally I just wonder how many here have it and why you have it? Did you not save for college? plan for college? Go to an expensive school just for the experience? why? why? why?

None - but of course my kids aren't in college . . . I'm the only one who's going through college and I'm out for this year, so I've actually paid off my credit card that I used for books and fees. That was a total of 2K for several years of schooling.
 
When I went to college, all of the the State Schools were $176 a semester,
for as many hours as you could take. I could earn this amount working at K-mart
or waiting tables in less than 2 weeks.
I paid for Bachelors degrees for both of my kids, but they did 2 years at the community college
and 2 years at a university close enough to commute.
I started saving when my oldest was in 8th grade at about $200 a month.
9 years later, I was up to about $400 a month when my youngest graduated.
All in all it was cheaper than buying a new car, and should have a better residual value.
 
The individual has a child who is in Law School and will graduate next may, I'm assuming the total student debt is then $300,000 for undergraduate and law school combined.

My daughter is in law school and tuition and books run about $45,000 a year and that doesn't include living expenses. Law School is 3-years.



>>>>

Ok. I just don't see the relationship between that and my previous comment about making $8 an hour.
 
My parents or grandparents would want to work at the same employer until they got promoted.

I've had 3 different jobs at different companies in the past year and a half. I thought the first was too low paying, so I spent a couple weeks applying to jobs in the Midwest, turned a few offers down and then moved to Chicago. Then I worked there for 6 months before getting sick of it and finding my current job. Got a substantial pay raise with each move.

... but it seems most people my age do that.

I'm having a hard time taking you seriously. Maybe I'm being overly suspicious but your comments seem very insincere.
 
its pretty clear that the earnings from getting a four year degree over a lifetime are massively higher than no college,

I haven't observed this clarity. Are you living in 1985? It doesn't work like this anymore. Ever heard of Occupy Wall Street? Ever heard of the global economy? Ever heard of government cut backs? Fake government jobs paying $70,000 + benefits for 30 years then pay a pension don't exist anymore. The government doesn't waste money like it used to do. You actually have to compete with all the other millions of college graduates throughout the world.

I used to make $27,000 per year. That was before graduating from college. Now I make $16,000 per year. That's after graduating from college. Where are you observing everything so clearly? I don't get it.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/opinion/20110711/john-stossel-is-college-an-expensive-scam
 
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