Comments on: Hats Off to the Graduates… Now Pay Up!

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 29 May 2006 07:59:00 +0000

Interest free student loans in New Zealand.. woot! :>

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 26 May 2006 10:46:00 +0000

I’m an avid reader of your blog and I appreciate your sound ability to put the finacial jargon in lamen’s terms. But your current blog does not apply to me yet, so I was wondering if you could lead future university students like me that are getting no financial help from parents or relatives to make good decisions on taking out a student loan. Where do I start researching and what I’m looking for is where I’m stuck.

Thanks again for all the help you’ve given and I look forward to your response.

By: mOOm

mOOm — Fri, 26 May 2006 05:33:00 +0000

The liberal arts thing has never made much sense to me. I think American high schools need to get better at covering general education and then colleges and universities should teach people just in their major area (and any prerequisites) and they will get done quicker…. and why are medical and law degrees post-grad degrees in the US? I did high school in England and undergrad in Israel. I did my PhD in the US and am a professor in the US currently. My opinions don’t make me popular with most of my colleagues OTOH I don’t think that university level education should be TOO narrowly vocational. Study economics rather than accounting for example at the degree level. Well I could go on and on about this stuff

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 25 May 2006 22:05:00 +0000

Thanks for a great post!

I am freaking out lately because I know my first student loan payment is due in July… yikes! I’m glad to know I’m not the only one worried about paying back my debts from school. It really stinks!

By: Tiredbuthappy

Tiredbuthappy — Thu, 25 May 2006 20:13:00 +0000

When we were looking at college savings accounts for our son, we made sure funds in 529 plans could be used for vocational/technical training as well as traditional colleges. I do want him to go to college, but if he wants to be a welder or something like that, I’m going to support his choice to skip the fancy-pants 4 year degree in favor of more relevant training. I think when I’m talking to him I’ll try to be careful to say “if you go to college” not “when you go to college”, but I’ll also make it clear that I think college is a good idea and will give him more options. But I just don’t want to push him into it.

Of course, he’s only 2, so I should probably not worry too much about college except to save what I can.

Good post, Nicole.

By: AlltheWrong

AlltheWrong — Thu, 25 May 2006 20:04:00 +0000

I just try to remember that my liberal arts degree is supposedly on average worth $1.7 million. (The difference in lifetime earnings between having one and not.)

By: Inaniloquent

Inaniloquent — Thu, 25 May 2006 17:33:00 +0000

Great Post by the way….
I have $141,000 in student loans from undergrad and law school. In undergrad I worked, had grants, and took out the absolute minimum I could to survive. In law school, I also took out a lesser amount than necessary–most of my living expenses were covered by my husband. I also had grants and scholarships. My husband now has close to $50,000 (having paid some down)–he also had scholarships. My loans come due the first of July, and I’m sick to my stomach wondering how I will afford it. My husband and I are by no means spendthrifts–we eat almost every meal at home even! But I know money will be tight, tight, tight here very soon.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2006 13:46:00 +0000

My parents told me from a young age that i would go to college – there was no discussion, even though neither of them finished college. I never knew there were options – always thought I had to go to a tradional liberal arts college and pick a degree available there. I’m not a good student, so 4 years into my college education when I still had no idea , I found a art/tech school and loved their way of teaching. Unfortunately, they were very expensive and 18 months later I graduated with $25 in student loan debt. Like you I never thought about it until the exit seminar on paying it back! Then – complete panic!!!! So frustrating now that I’m married and want to have a house and a kid and I just CAN’T financially. Higher education is just too expensive.

By: Byates

Byates — Thu, 25 May 2006 01:28:00 +0000

Student loans are unnecessary. BS in math wiht minors in business and sociology, MBA finished two years ago. No loans, no help from parents, worked fulltime, assistance from employer. Delta Mu Delta honors society in business member.

By: NotCarrie

NotCarrie — Wed, 24 May 2006 18:56:00 +0000

I can’t help but feel ill feelings towards people who had parents pay their student loans for them.