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Honestly the guy in this article isn't too resourceful.
He lives in California, which has a great public university system. He could've easily gone to community college (there are SO many around orange county), transfer to a UC/state college and saved thousands while getting a top notch education. Work-study is quite easy to obtain and with scholarship and grants, he shouldn't be so far behind in debt.
And if he's barely scratching by, why in the world is he living in orange county? That county is one of the most expensive in California.
With that much credit card debt I don't feel too sorry for him. You can get student loans to cover meal plans, and summer jobs alone cover the rest of your expenses (this is how I did it). If you aren't going out drinking all the time, there is really no reason to have credit card debt as a college grad. Work on internships/co-ops starting your freshman year. By the time you graduate, you can easily have a few companies that know you and know your work. If you don't start looking for a job until after you graduate, you shouldn't be too surprised if you can't find one. I graduated in 2008 and started talking to HR managers with the company I now work for when I was a sophomore. By the time I graduated I didn't even need to apply. I knew a VP personally, I did an internship with them, It was a very easy process. I just had to start looking two years before I graduated.
Very true!!! What you say! So the grass was not always greener back in the good old bad days...
But at least, if you did work your way through, along with a scholarship or grant, then at least you didn't have to work a decade to pay off your school loans as you do now.
The people that I know who are in the late 50's now or early 60's lived at home, went to state school and worked part-time, while attending school. They paid their school loans off within years of graduation and they finished in FOUR to FIVE years! Which is basically the average anyway for people who take 100k loans out!
The difference now is that you could work 80 hours per week and you still would not be able to afford todays colleges!!
And yes, I know you can always go to a community college. which I think will soon become an elitist distinction.
Those who to Community colleges and those who didn't!!
cheers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana
It's very difficult to "work your way through college" these days. In fact, it always was. My father did it, going to 'night school' and it took 12 years post high school. Actually, the last 1 1/2 yrs he had enough money saved that he went full time. This was during the depression. Many people don't have the "sticktoitiveness", or frankly, the good fortune to be able to do that. Dad was lucky he worked a straight daylight shift, so he could take night classes. Some jobs jerk you around, especially in retail these days, so you never know when you're going to be working, so you don't know when you can sign up for a class. Some bosses don't make it easy, either. Most "working one's way through" consists more of scholarships won, GI bill, employer paid tution, etc.
Nowadays, the University of Colorado costs ~$5000/yr in tuition (in state), another $1000/month in R & B (approx), and 'night school' offerings are very slim. The financial aid system for need-based aid is very much biased in favor of loans and jobs, not grants.
And yes, I know you can always go to a community college. which I think will soon become an elitist distinction.
Those who to Community colleges and those who didn't!!
There is already a distinction and it in a sense is well deserved. Community colleges are like high school continuation. But people have to work with what is available to them.
Honestly the guy in this article isn't too resourceful.
He lives in California, which has a great public university system. He could've easily gone to community college (there are SO many around orange county), transfer to a UC/state college and saved thousands while getting a top notch education. Work-study is quite easy to obtain and with scholarship and grants, he shouldn't be so far behind in debt.
And if he's barely scratching by, why in the world is he living in orange county? That county is one of the most expensive in California.
I agree, there are ways to reduce costs of education if you try hard enough. I went to a junior college on grants for the first two years and worked part-time. I basically paid almost nothing for my first two years of college. I then transferred to a state university for the next two years to earn my B.A. degree (I planned it that way because it had lower tuition). As a result, I only had to borrow about half of what I would have otherwise.
I spent ten years paying off my student loans and still consider it the best money I ever spent. Yes, I graduated about twenty years ago. Was it easy back then? No. I picked up my work-study check from the cashier's office and walked it over to the bursar's office and I applied it to my bill. I commuted from one city to another to go to class and often I didn't have a quarter to make an emergency phone call in case my car broke down.
But I did not spend my summers in Europe courtesy of student loans. I didn't go on that Caribbean trip for Spring Break. I didn't use student loans to buy a new car, furnish my apartment or wear $200 shoes. I saw classmates taking the maximum allowable loans to doing all of those things. I suspect that some of my peers from that expensive, private liberal arts college are still toting a note.
Now I'm in my mid-forties, having paid off my MA before the loans on the BA were done, and I've moved across the country (where I know not a soul, with my husband having to maintain residency where our house is) for a job that is paying me 40% more money, in a field where jobs are declining, in the worst economy of my lifetime.
Opportunity exists, but it is not going to fall into your lap. Be willing to go where the jobs are (remember, you don't have to stay there forever). Make getting a job a job in itself (I spent about 10 hours a week for ten months in my search).
If my undergrad had been in a field as universally useful as accounting, who knows where I might be today.
I don't want to disrespect anyone, but not going to college in this day and age may be a financial death sentence. The job market gets more and more sophisticated, which requires more skills then ever not to mention the competition is insane out there. You CAN NEVER have enough education and training in this day and age.
I don't want to disrespect anyone, but not going to college in this day and age may be a financial death sentence. The job market gets more and more sophisticated, which requires more skills then ever not to mention the competition is insane out there. You CAN NEVER have enough education and training in this day and age.
I cannot agree with you more. I have seen jobs for secretarial positions that require a bachelors degree. I have a friend who works in human resources for a corporation and she said they dont even look at applications that do not have a college degree on them. Lots of jobs that you used to could get right out of high school are asking for at least an associates degree. If you want to get a good decent paying job in this day and age like you said you are going to need a college education. Those jobs that dont require them have thousands of applicants for 5 positions. And I know some are going to say that "everybody with a college degree dont get a job" That may be true but they have more choices. Without a college education you are very limited in the jobs you can even apply for.
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Very true!!! What you say! So the grass was not always greener back in the good old bad days...
. And I know some are going to say that "everybody with a college degree dont get a job" That may be true but they have more choices. Without a college education you are very limited in the jobs you can even apply for.
