How much do people think Ivy League Schools cost? 50k loan is nothing for them unless you got a crazy scholarship.
Our in-state schools have more than doubled in price since I graduated while the lottery scholarship has remained the same. Many people whose first choice would have been Clemson have not even considered it because of price. My boss is planning on sending his girls out of state for cheaper. Totally broken.
In state / State schools now have a tuition of $36k in many areas. These aren't private schools or ivy league.
In a Twitter thread last year I remember someone saying "I want to so and so school for only $5,200 a semester. I didn't take out loans and worked hard as a bar tender to pay may way through school. You should be able to do it as well." Then someone asked when did you go to school. This person replied in the 90's. They then responded to him with "You do realize tuition at said school is now $38k alone today. That does not include room and board." That person never did continue the thread after being called out on that.
I went to high school in an all white, affluent rural part of the state. My high school had statistics that 96% of graduates went on to a 4 year degree. In high school guidance councilors never discussed whether or not college was the right choice for you, or if you could afford it. It was always about what school was the best fit for you in terms of academics or sports or amenities and social environment. Several of my classmates went to ivy league schools such as Harvard.
My family wasn't affluent, just average. And my parents were divorced. Even so, going to college was never a question. It was an expectation. You had to go on to college for success. We never had any discussions about costs or whether or not we could afford this. The only discussions we had were to get me motivated to apply to more schools. Right those admission essays and study harder and take those SAT's again for a better grade.
When I was accepted, my father went online and applied for financial aid and student loans without even consulting me or involving me in the process. I'm still pissed at him over that. It was like I got my acceptance letter to my first choice school. I accepted and that night my father tells me financial aid is all taken care of. I was like what.
Tuition for me was $13,000 a semester plus room and board. After financial aid and scholarships I had about $14,000 a year in loans for a total of about $55,000 for 4 years of school.
I graduated in 2008, right as the recession hit. My first job ended after 6 months. The small agency I was working for went under.
I moved back in with my mom and step date and was working 2 retail jobs. I couldn't afford to live on my own. Less than a year of this my step father game me an ultimatum to get a job and move about by x date or you will be homeless. He never went to college, and moved out on his own when he was 18. He used that as an example and didn't want adult children living in his house.
I ended up in retail management because no one was hiring in my field and after rent I couldn't afford student loans. So I used up all of my deferment. Which resulted in my student loans ballooning because of interest. They say using deferment is a poor choice. You should never do that. But I didn't have a choice. It was do that, or be homeless. Getting back into my field at the end of the recession ended up with me working at a start up that failed. So I was jobless once again. Took 15 months to get a full time job in my field again / a job that wasn't a low wage service job. The biggest issue was not having enough experience, and when I could get a job I started at entry level. Again in a situation where I couldn't afford both rent and student loans and fell behind. And that's where I am today. Never being able to catch up because my jobs have been in high rent area. And I didn't have the option of living at home with my parents.
www.cnn.com
