Its just like people who got into houses they couldn't afford with sub prime mortgages (with the strong pushing by govt of course). Its ultimately the person who signs their name on the dotted line. I know that sounds harsh but its true. I was able to put myself through AU and came out in the end with a tiny bit of a surplus to spare. My parents werent rich. Not even close. I wasn't on scholarship. But I did work when I was able to part time (and full time when school wasn't in session). And I did plan ahead of time and saved money, and stuck to my budget like a hawk. It required living in a 1 bed room eff apt and eating a lot of ramen and white bread, driving a shitty car and walking a lot. It required having 31 bucks in my acct knowing I had to make it last until the weekend.
The new poor now is some of the problem. They want to have a new car, big tv, the great cable package, starbucks twice a week, eating at Amersterdamn Cafe weekly, etc etc. Students also seem to stay in school longer.
The cure for student debt is not to accumulate it in mass quantities in the first place. And yes, it can be done with proper saving, planning and discipline. Its just easier now to get a 40K loan at 19% interest and ask someone else to forgive it later. I just cant go along with that.
Disclaimer: I am by no means saying the lenders are not somewhat predatory. They certainly are. This is how they make money...BUT, you do ultimately make that choice to borrow money, just like with anything else. And you agree to pay it back under their terms. If they sell you one thing and give you another, then shame on them. But with all the oversight and regulations in place today, they shouldn't be happening much. If it does, somebody will be getting in trouble.
The solution is not to tax the shit out of those who were responsible to forgive the debts of those who were not. That is backwards as hell. And frankly, whats the message sent?
Just thinking on paper here:
How much money though would you say it costs to get through college on your own?
For an Alabama resident to attend Auburn, it's $10k for tuition and fees and an estimated $1200 for books and supplies per school year. That's for 12 hours, which won't be enough to finish in four years. But even if you did finish in four years, you need about $50k just for tuition and books alone. How much is room? Power bill? Gas bill? Food? Issues like a car breaking down or needing new clothes? New shoes?
Could a student get by for four years on $25k for room and board? That's $520/month for four years. Know of any apartments or houses cheap enough that $520/month could leave you with enough money for food?
So at the minimum, I'd say an undergraduate student could get through Auburn with $75k and would need approximately $1600/month to do so. They'd be miserable, but at least it seems possible.
If they found a job paying $10/hour and got 30 hours a week and worked 50 weeks a year, they would make $60k over the course of four years before taxes. So because they're poor as shit, they probably wouldn't be taxed very much and we could say they would have $50k to spend on school.
They would need a $25k loan at 19% or whatever high interest rate available. That's with working some shit college job for 30 hours a week.
I think what bothers me the most about placing pure blame on the students is that when you come to Auburn now, you get access to one of the most opulent displays of wealth on a college campus. The new health and wellness center cost $72 million to construct and lord knows what its costs are to maintain. Administrators are taking home hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have to ask "why do we need some of these amenities when it's putting new college grads in a difficult position just to get an undergraduate degree?" Should college be a strain on finances? Should it be a place just for those that can afford it already or sacrifice enough to maneuver through without going into spiraling debt?
Or maybe college's hardest part should be getting in and succeeding as a student.
But I am seeing first hand how fucking retarded some people are. I have fellow students in my cohort who are taking lavish trips over the summer. One spent two weeks in Sweden. One went with a high school buddy to Iceland for a week. One took a month long hiking trip in Canada. The way they bitch about not having enough money on a GTA stipend tells me that they're using some loaned cash to go on these trips. Maybe not. Maybe they have a money tree.