AlterNet: Going to College & Grad School Looks Like a Disaster

[marmar]

Going to College & Grad School Looks Like a Disaster

By Nan Mooney, AlterNet. Posted December 2, 2008.

Thinking about going back to school in a weak jobs market? Students face a plague of loan problems, less aid and higher tuition and fees.



With the job market tanking, have you been thinking that now is the perfect time to go to school, or go back to school, to shore up those job skills and make sure you have an edge in the market?

Think again.

The economic crisis has hit higher education with a triple whammy. Students and their families will need more help paying for school just as colleges struck by financial crises begin charging higher tuition and have less means to provide financial aid.

Already, 37 lenders have stopped making private loans and 168 have stopped offering federally guaranteed loans. Though money is still available -- only 25 of the top 100 lenders, although responsible for 91.5 percent of loans, have dropped out -- increasingly there are conditions attached. Lenders are pulling back from the community college and trade school markets -- where there are higher default rates, lower graduation rates and lower job placement -- at the same time, community colleges are seeing an increasing number of applicants seeking an affordable education option.

"These days the financial aid office is the busiest on campus," says Patricia Hurley, the financial aid director at Glendale Community College in California. "We're working nights and weekends just trying to get all the applications processed." .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/109397/going_to_college__%26_grad_school_looks_like_a_disaster_/

[Uben]

1. Glad I spent my money on a degree......

....for my daughter. She now has her MBA. It cost me about $50K, but had I left it in the stock market, it would now be worth about half that, or less! So, from that perspective, it was a bargain!

[marmar]

2. Was it 50K just for the Masters? Yikes.....

I'm glad I'm out of school.

[Uben]

3. No, actually the $50K was for.....

....4 yrs at Texas A&M for a psyche degree. That included housing and meals. The MBA came from North Texas State University at a cost of another $20K. It was money well spent, I guess. Had I not spent it then, I would only have half that much now. I want to give my kids every opportunity to succeed. If they don't, it's not my fault. But believe me, they will both be winners!

[Neshanic]

4. Jeez Art history for 25,000 and Landscape architecture 32,000 for me.

I should not complain, but then again I am old, and the numbers reflect that.

[ogneopasno]

5. The liberal arts college I attended is now charging $35K A YEAR. Frankly, I think it's bullshit

especially considering the butt-ass-huge endowment it's sitting on. I think there's a higher education bubble that needs to pop like the housing market and Internet bubbles did. I'm not sure how, or how it would look, but something has to give, especially in the liberal arts market. What a racket.

[Berry Cool]

6. I'll take two journalism degrees for $15,000, Alex.

That was all I ended up paying out of pocket for mine. Scholarships and grants covered the rest. Still took me 12 years to pay off all the loans.

I'm sure glad I'm not trying to go back today.

[jane_pippin]

7. OT but related: There's a book coming out in Feb. called The Student Loan Scam

The author has a website but I can't seem to find it at the moment. A friend of mine in the bookworld got an advanced copy of it and he's been freaking out and wants everyone to read it. Here's the amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Student-Loan-Scam-Oppressive-History/dp/0807042293/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1228263642&sr=8-1

It's basically about how students get screwed royally by the system and there's not much you can do about it at the moment. I haven't read it, but I assume the author offers some kind of suggestions for what needs changing.

[fascisthunter]

8. I'm One of Many Who Have Been Screwed by Student Loans

I am working my ass off to pay off my loans... hopefully this book will be an eye-opener for others, especially those who are thinking of taking out a student loan.

[taught_me_patience]

9. By the end of next year I'll have $80k in loans

but I'll have my MBA. I still believe the payoff will be worth it in the long run. My wife has $90k from med school but it was totally worth it. We're starting our marriage out with $170k in student loans, but will probably make a lot of money over the next 30 years to pay it back.