Millennials

[Raven Koenes]

Amen. And I might add, I was rifling through applications that required GED's and most applicants had BA's. By the end, as I got to know the new guys and gals better, they were on average $25,000 dollars in debt from college loans before they hit the ground running. I can't help but feel that is an injustice.

When it all boils down, the tension I felt was very similar to that which I felt with my own children. A natural generational disconnect.

One of my guy's has a degree in Technology. He did work for the district a few years back and got his degree. Most of the tech work he did was boom and bust. He'd get contracted to do something, and when the project was done he'd be laid off. He finally decided to come back into the District because it's a steady income. He's a great guy all my venting aside.

I think the way Student Loans are run is awful, and a way for the Banks to lock you into their system. I finished paying mine off awhile back, and for awhile I thought my debt would outlast me. I kick myself for what I spent a lot of it on. Things like a ten keg Watneys beer party.

 

[August West]

I hear ya'. Nothing wrong with venting.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Having paid off my student loans (don't ask) over a 30 year period I say to them, "Get a job. Pay your bills. Suck it up. You borrowed the money."

No, no sympathy for cry babies.

 

[Raven Koenes]

Having paid off my student loans (don't ask) over a 30 year period I say to them, "Get a job. Pay your bills. Suck it up. You borrowed the money."

No, no sympathy for cry babies.

To add; paying it back has an upside. It ups your credit score to be able to purchase things like a home and a car...

Like mine where I can have my own studio space.
Photo attached. I'm the long hair on the right, and an old bro, on the left, who stayed with us for a minute when he was going through a divorce. Owning is nice.

 

[jrp316]

Nope, they are not College students. They are doing this as a full time job to earn a living.

Ah. The scenario you described bore the scent of the working student.

My take on student loans: make 'em dischargeable in bankruptcy again and watch the chaos unfold. The costs of attendance might actually have a shot at getting back to something resembling under control and affordable for the average Joe. At the end of the day, colleges like any other business have to price their product at what their consumers (students) can actually pay, otherwise, they get nothing at all. It would also be a great time to be a bankruptcy attorney, incidentally.

A student loan is literally the only loan option I can think of where an 18 year old kid, with no job, assets, collateral or in many cases even a co-signer, can secure a five to six figure loan without the lender so much as batting an eye. Take that same 18 year old kid and send them into a bank for a loan for anything else (house, car, et al) and watch how fast they get laughed out of the place.

 

[August West]

To add; paying it back has an upside. It ups your credit score to be able to purchase things like a home and a car...

Like mine where I can have my own studio space.
Photo attached. I'm the long hair on the right, and an old bro, on the left, who stayed with us for a minute when he was going through a divorce. Owning is nice.View attachment 828432

What a great space.

 

[August West]

A student loan is literally the only loan option I can think of where an 18 year old kid, with no job, assets, collateral or in many cases even a co-signer, can secure a five to six figure loan without the lender so much as batting an eye. Take that same 18 year old kid and send them into a bank for a loan for anything else (house, car, et al) and watch how fast they get laughed out of the place.

Makes you wonder.

And if it doesn't, I am not sure what to say.

 

[redslayer8585]

Being an Air Force recruiter, I see the struggle with student loans everyday. These kids come in to my office with $25K to $40K in loan debt and they are telling me the only job they can find is pushing carts at Sam's club. It's a tragedy really because some of them are first generation college grads and it's for nothing. Nobody wants to hire you without experience in your field, even if you have a degree. BAs now days are like diplomas, everybody has them.

I was lucky because I came into the military with no education and had uncle Sam pay for my degree, along with 11 years (so far) of experience.

If I could tell everybody to join the military, I would. I'm 32 and nearly debt free with a good career, a degree, and experience. All of that will pay off when I decide to "grow up" and retire.



Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Raven Koenes]

Ah. The scenario you described bore the scent of the working student.

My take on student loans: make 'em dischargeable in bankruptcy again and watch the chaos unfold. The costs of attendance might actually have a shot at getting back to something resembling under control and affordable for the average Joe. At the end of the day, colleges like any other business have to price their product at what their consumers (students) can actually pay, otherwise, they get nothing at all. It would also be a great time to be a bankruptcy attorney, incidentally.

A student loan is literally the only loan option I can think of where an 18 year old kid, with no job, assets, collateral or in many cases even a co-signer, can secure a five to six figure loan without the lender so much as batting an eye. Take that same 18 year old kid and send them into a bank for a loan for anything else (house, car, et al) and watch how fast they get laughed out of the place.

I agree with you. I think lowering interest rates would be a place to start.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

What a great space.

+1
I'd better not show my wife that picture.

 

[oc_in_fw]

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Honestly, my greatest gripe with millennials is their tendency to ignore. I am specifically referring to not replying to emails or returning calls. "Oh, I was busy...."

My second greatest gripe is the backward ball cap thing.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

View attachment 828586

Oh God ain't that the truth!

 

[oc_in_fw]

Oh God ain't that the truth!

I catch myself wanting to go down that path occasionally

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I can drive a manual as well as a vehicle with a carb & manual choke.

 

[snowman]

I can drive a manual as well as a vehicle with a carb & manual choke.

Holy old thread Batman.

Millennial generation? Who cares. It's just media BS. Every younger generation thinks they know everything. Every older generation knows just enough to know how ignorant the younger generation is. Thus it has always been....thus it shall always be.

I think one thing all of us over 40 can agree on. One day soon....if they live long enough....each and every millennial will wake up one morning much sooner than they expect and realize the generation right behind them is laughing at them.

 

[Alacrity59]

This education debt thing needs to change. With technology the cost of education should be coming down yet it seems to be going up.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

It isn't actual delivery of coursework, online, or lecture that is driving up costs. Tenure, entrenched administrators, student housing, student services, sports, pension costs, employee health care, travel, and perks all contribute.

Holding down costs: Adjunct faculty. Non tenured lecturers teach more and more; many are poorly paid and receive no benefits.

 

[jrp316]

It's probably easier if one thinks of higher education as a product, like a car or a pair of shoes. The product is worth whatever people can (or are willing) to pay for it. The providers of higher education have two outside forces manipulating their market to their favor: the near de facto requirement for an undergraduate degree in one's proposed field of work (trades are in their own category), and the prolific availability of student funds, particularly in the way of student loans. Based on those two manipulations, a college or university sees the high availability of this money and move to snap as much up as possible. The students are then therefore obliged to pay whatever the institute decides to charge that go round. If the perennial D1 football team needs a new luxury bus, professors get tenured or a big wig decides they need a new luxury SUV every year, guess who gets to pick up the tab?

My proposal above was to make student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy again. As they sit now, they're a near bulletproof investment for lenders; short of the student themselves dying (without a cosigner) or managing to qualify for the rare forgiveness, they're assured of getting paid. Make the loans dischargeable in bankruptcy again, and many lenders will exit that loan space with a quickness to boggle the mind. The ones that remain will be doubly prudent. I could envision a scenario where a lender would use something like an actuarial table of salaries and employment rates for various degree paths.

Student A wants a $100k loan to attend medical school to become a cardiologist. Employment rate near 100%, average salary starting at around let's say $600k/year. The lender approves without a blink and says there's more if you need it.

Student B wants a $100k loan for a master's degree in underwater basket weaving to sell baskets on the beach. Employment rate somewhere around 15%, average salary around $15k/year. The lender, after accounting for the average person's living expenses and their resulting ability to pay back the loan in a certain time frame, denies Student B on the basis of likely inability to pay the loan back in their proposed career field.

Will there be people declaring bankruptcy as a matter of course when they get out of school? Sure, that's why the loans were exempted from the bankruptcy code in the first place. What's the magic bullet? I don't know, but I believe that saddling people with tens of thousands of dollars in debt before they ever hit the road isn't right either.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

The bargain of the century: community colleges! Federal, state, local funds cover much of the cost. Average tuition is $105 per credit hour. And for students who want to do something useful, great vocational training.