College Degreed, still paying students loans, and not even working in the field you were trained for

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Comment by DeAna Williams on February 24, 2010 at 4:12pm

I went to college. Still trying to my loan off. An d I owe like $9,000. Never finished. Now I thinking about going back for Nursing because I figured out what I want to do.

Comment by richsistah on February 24, 2010 at 3:38pm

Can you believe the story below? I only owed $4,550 when I left school in 1993, and that took 12 years to pay off. Although when I was getting into trouble paying it back, the school and I worked together. At one point, I had to agree to pay close to $100 a month so they would take off the late fees. After that, the payments got lesser and lesser. Until that blessed day--March 29, 2005--I finally paid off the loan. Getting a promissory note back stamped PAID--it's a beautiful thing. As much as I wanted to get a great education, I had to be practical. I could not afford to go to graduate school already owing for a loan--it just wasn't in my best interest to tack on a whole bunch of debt. Credit is too important to your future--buying a house, staring that small business, etc. You have to take responsibilty for what you take on.

Comment by richsistah on February 24, 2010 at 2:25pm

Read this story about a women who is in, no joke, $555,000 in student loan debt. ONCE AGAIN, NO JOKE. Here are 2 different articles about the story:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-555000-StudentLoan-wallstreet-268...

http://www.bvonmoney.com/2010/02/18/black-college-students-021810/

Comment by XL on February 24, 2010 at 2:21pm

I GRADUATED AND FOUND THAT IN MY FIELD OF STUDY, EMPLOYERS WERE MORE APT TO HIRE THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO WENT TO THE TECHNICAL INSTITUTES, LIKE TN TECH AND CONCORDE..SO IM STILL LOOKING FOR A JOB IN MY FIELD. I MAY HAVE TO GET A MASTER'S IN MY FIELD IN ORDER TO FIND AN ENTRY LEVEL POSITION...SMH

Comment by CMyPoint on February 24, 2010 at 12:45pm

I took out student loans for my Master's degree and have $8000 to go. Fortunately I am working in the field that I have my degrees in.

However, my husband on the other hand, went to college on a full football scholarship but found the loophole to still take out loans just for money in his pocket. He did not even graduate from college and didn't bother to pay one dime to loans and all were in default when I met him. So now that he is trying to be more financially responsible, he is making payment arrangements but now the loans total $25,000+ when like I said, he didn't even graduate from college and had a football scholarship while in school. It's critical for us to teach our kids to avoid the same mess we put ourselves in and the impact it will have when you try to support a family!!

Comment by Brian Franklin on February 23, 2010 at 10:07am

Nubn Qn. You have to remember that the Government does not have money. They are spending your present or as the case of the bail out, future earnings. That will mean slower growth, fewer jobs and higher taxes. Frankly if this country does not take serious steps to get spending under control we will rapidly become a third world country. China now loans the U.S. money. We don't make much and we are dependent on the middle east for our energy.

Comment by Craig Applebaum on February 22, 2010 at 1:14pm

Brian,

I agree with you. Most kids go to college not having a clue what they want to be or will excel at. Most should probably go to a community college to figure this out.

Comment by Nubn Qn on February 21, 2010 at 5:33pm

Brian, I've come to the conclusion that I will be paying education loans well into retirement. It's unfortunate, but true. The federal government has bailed out numerous financial institutions and retailers. It would be greatly appreciated if they consider helping us out!! Imagine the economic impact if these loans were forgiven [providing a realistic criteria of course]. People would actually have more to spend, hence boosting the economy.

Comment by Brian Franklin on February 21, 2010 at 3:58pm

One thing that parents and students have to do is realize that colleges are businesses. They also have to realize that sending a kid to college will be the largest expense they will have next to the purchase of a home. You have to be willing to keep the expectations reasonable. What does the child intend to major in? How much have you saved and how much can you really afford. Most of the time attending a school out of state is not a good idea due to out of state fees that may double the cost. What is the expect salary for their chosen profession versus the cost of the education? Have you looked a schools with a reasonable cost? What scholarships are available? Unfortunately most parents are so caught up in the joy of "my child is going to college" that they toss common sense to the wind and let an inexperienced 18 year old make decisions that involve spending upwards of $20,000 dollars a year. I used this formula for my kids. If you were a C student you were going to the local community college and living at home. If you were a B student you could go to a state college in the state we live in. If you were an A student and were seeking a profession that was on the upper end of the pay scale or highly specialized then we based the selection on the school. PS Education, history, psychology, social science and art majors no matter what the grade were treated no better than B students. The starting salaries for people with BS or BA degrees in these fields are not high so it makes no sense to pay more for an education that will not offer the same in return. Yes I understand that an education is more than the money but lets be practical here

Comment by Melissa on February 21, 2010 at 12:57pm

Hey I have a student loan group on here and I am trying to get people together to do something about this student loan thing. #1 have a degree and was told time and time again that i would need some experience(paid experience) to get in my field. Then I was told to get a master's degree which would only put me in more debt and the possiblity that once i graduate a PHD might be needed. So join my student loan crisis group and let's find a solution