student loans

[Brat]

When DD was selecting universities one criterion was the placement rate of the graduates. When I was in college professors would brag that employers loved their students but failed to be specific, and the university job placement office was just folders on racks. A lot of BS. She was looking at engineering, but the school's relationship with the business community was more important (to me) than her choice of major. She changed her major from engineering to finance so it was necessary to tell her what that profession expected from those graduates.

She had school loans which we paid off after she graduated. I didn't tell her we planned to do that as I wanted her to manage that obligation as if the responsibility was all hers.

Both kids worked while in school, DD in a student aid assignment, DS in side hustles.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

I have such strong opinions on this:

1) Waahhh!! I borrowed money and the world wants its back. Waahhh!!

2) Hey parents ... Hello? Is anybody out there? Didn't you also fill out the FAFSA? Aren't you experienced in life? Haven't you been a parent for 18 years and had at least a bit of time to understand this? Do you know how to use Google? Do you have know anyone else who is a parent?

3) Hey schools ... Lazy rivers? 20 restaurants on campus? Olympic sized swimming pools? More administrators than professors? We already have Disney World, thank you.

4) Hey society ... can we dispense with the "no judgement, all degrees are created equal" lies we tell our children? Yes, there are lovely stories about super successful people coming from all degree backgrounds. Yes, Steve Jobs attributed some of Apple's success to his coligraphy class. Yes, universities exist in part to explore the unexplored in all domains. But line up 100 STEM grads, 100 poets, 100 history majors and 100 gender studies grads and then tell me about all degrees being equal.

But among the four items above...I'll drop this largely at the parents door step.

My $0.02.

 

[jldavid47]

This might not be a popular opinion, but if I can go to the library and learn the same amount that I would learn in college, then it is probably not a major worthy of going after.

You don't understand. Colleges and universities are no longer in the education business. They are in the credential business. A college degree is a credential. You may or may not have learned anything but it doesn't matter. The credential gets you a job. It may be a sh*tty job, but it gets you in the door for many jobs which you could not get if you didn't have it.

 

[Koolau]

I have such strong opinions on this:

1) Waahhh!! I borrowed money and the world wants its back. Waahhh!!

2) Hey parents ... Hello? Is anybody out there? Didn't you also fill out the FAFSA? Aren't you experienced in life? Haven't you been a parent for 18 years and had at least a bit of time to understand this? Do you know how to use Google? Do you have know anyone else who is a parent?

3) Hey schools ... Lazy rivers? 20 restaurants on campus? Olympic sized swimming pools? More administrators than professors? We already have Disney World, thank you.

4) Hey society ... can we dispense with the "no judgement, all degrees are created equal" lies we tell our children? Yes, there are lovely stories about super successful people coming from all degree backgrounds. Yes, Steve Jobs attributed some of Apple's success to his coligraphy class. Yes, universities exist in part to explore the unexplored in all domains. But line up 100 STEM grads, 100 poets, 100 history majors and 100 gender studies grads and then tell me about all degrees being equal.

But among the four items above...I'll drop this largely at the parents door step.

My $0.02.

Yes, only an anecdote, but had a service-frat buddy who graduated a year ahead of me. His major was "theater." My Senior year, as I was j*b shopping, I called a cab to take me to the airport for an interview trip. Guess who showed up at my door in a cab. It certainly wasn't a science major! YMMV