Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

“Let Me Talk to My Sales Manager to See What We Can Do”

—

by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in

Wren Building, College of William and Mary. Photo credit: Williamsburg Yorktown Daily

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

George Will had a fascinating column recently whose thesis is counter to the dominant opinion on Bacon’s Rebellion about the cost of higher education. Will cites recent research that concludes, “Students are paying less for college than they did 15 years ago.”

What is going on, although he does not use this analogy, is a lot like buying a car—hardly anyone pays the sticker price. Relying on a prevailing belief of Americans that higher cost signifies higher quality, institutions of higher education in the 1980s and 1990s began relying on higher tuitions as a marketing tool. For those applicants it wished to enroll, they offered discounts, otherwise known as merit scholarships.

I got a glimpse of this process a couple of years ago when my grandson was considering which college to attend. When I complimented him on the merit scholarships that were being offered, he and his mother dismissed the compliment, saying they were pretty much automatic for anyone being offered admission.

The large amount of student loan debt that has accumulated in recent years results from higher education minimizing its discounts by steering parents “toward having government provide the discount with subsidized student loans.” Lots of parents and students, believing the sticker cost is real, “sign the loan forms.”

This is certainly an interesting wrinkle in the ongoing discussion of the costs of higher education.

Share this article

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

Comments

55 responses to ““Let Me Talk to My Sales Manager to See What We Can Do””

  1. Not Today Avatar
    Not Today

    Having recently gone through the process, like…we just sent a kid to college this summer, the sticker price is meaningless. What matters is the value of your kid. It’s not a gazillion extracurriculars either. It’s VERY individualized. Every school is looking for different things to round out its class.

    1. Kathleen Smith Avatar
      Kathleen Smith

      What do you mean by round out the class?

      1. Not Today Avatar
        Not Today

        Every college is looking for different things. They may need mellophone players in the band, prioritize students who want to major in something obscure to keep the program going, or any other number of things. People think admissions is merely a matter of being the best ™ student and it’s not. It’s being the best student to fill whatever slot the university needs to fill. It’s always, always, related to the university’s needs.

        1. Kathleen Smith Avatar
          Kathleen Smith

          Thanks for clarifying.

  2. Wahoo'74 Avatar
    Wahoo’74

    Except that model is fallacious for top 50 schools.

    Our oldest daughter attended Richmond, the younger younger two UVA (out of state). All 3 got $30,000 merit scholarships from colleges that were ranked from 50-125, so the theory holds there. UR and UVA didn’t give us a penny, even though all were top tier applicants. All three graduated with GPA’s from 3.45-3.85. Sending all three to these colleges was our choice, but one we could not make now given the ever increasing costs of college.

    Why did we not get any aid? Because our family income was over $125,000, but I can assure you not sufficient to comfortably afford the $58-$63,000/yr. that room, board, tuition and fees cost from their graduation years of 2012-2017. Many readers think that sounds like a lot of money. Not if you have three children and paid over $700,000 (today close to $1,000,000) for 12 years of college. That’s outrageous.

    At the top rated schools like UVA, where out of state cost of attendance is now $80,000 annually, they make “average” cost of attendance low by accepting an increasing number of families with incomes under the $125,000 threshold. In fact, UVA now says they’ll pay 100% for families under $85,000 “who meet their criteria” – 1st generation college or defined minority status. UVA’s $15 billion endowment has the annual income to fund these scholarships.

    Who gets screwed? Middle income families who don’t meet those criteria and make $125-250,000 annually. They have to pay the full freight $80,000/yr. (which goes up 4-6% annually) for out-of-state UVA or all UR parents. The $250,000 in family income threshold is the level you would need to consider paying college expenses at that level. What UVA and others should do is cut expenses (administrative staff costs are absurdly high) and LOWER tuition for all.

    Student body economic diversity is non-existent. UVA and other top colleges now have the students from the top 5% in family income or the lower middle class or poor. Some call these DEI inspired admissions criteria fair. I call them an unjust persecution of middle class Americans who have to pay for their mortgages, health care and daily needs while saving for retirement. They should not be forced to disperse decades of savings on bloated college tuition costs.

    The intelligentsia who run our universities don’t care. They focus on DEI quotas, not equity for deserving students whose families can no longer afford to attend their colleges.

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      I call them an unjust persecution of middle class Americans who have to pay for their mortgages, health care and daily needs while saving for retirement. They should not be forced to disperse decades of savings on bloated college tuition costs.

      And they definitely should not be forced to pay off other people’s student loans.

      1. Eric the half a troll Avatar
        Eric the half a troll

        We were forced to pay off the S&L loans not too long ago…. and then there was TARP…

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          I said “should not”.

          I also said “should not” RE: S&L crisis. I also said “should not” RE: TARP.

          My opinion regarding government handouts is consistent. I think they should be safe, legal and rare.

          1. Eric the half a troll Avatar
            Eric the half a troll

            But they are not. Given the beneficiaries of past handouts, I have no problems with the little guy seeing some modest benefits this time.

          2. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            I agree regarding the “little guy” who is genuinely having a hard time.

            Blanket across the board student loan forgiveness is something I will not support no matter how many “big guys” have previously benefitted from congress’s largesse with taxpayer dollars.

          3. Eric the half a troll Avatar
            Eric the half a troll

            Means testing seems to be a viable approach to loan forgiveness. It will, of course, foster shouts of “wealth redistribution” and “socialism” from some… but there is no pleasing everybody…

          4. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Nice job. Perhaps since he has not been around recently it is time to rename the Jim McCarthy Silly Walks Awards to the Eric the fractional troll Silly Walks Award. Keep up the good work.

          5. Wahoo'74 Avatar
            Wahoo’74

            Eric yes, you are a Socialist with no concept of how capitalism and contract law work.

        2. Wahoo'74 Avatar
          Wahoo’74

          Absurd non-sequitur on the cars and S&L crisis Eric. All loans are not equal.

          Are students who took out loans more deserving than high school grad blue collar workers and company owners whom COVID crushed and they defaulted on their loans?

          Should we just forgive ALL loans because leftists hate capitalism and no longer believe in personal accountability? The same “logic” (sic) applies to Progressive judicial theory that believes felonies committed by their preferred definitional “persecuted, aggrieved” subsets of America should be allowed since “it’s not their fault” or that the US is culturally biased or systemically racist.

          I strongly disagree.

    2. Kathleen Smith Avatar
      Kathleen Smith

      Well stated. I did my masters in three and doctorate in seven years one class at a time and no loans. I had a family to feed. I have a friend who took a job at a University to ensure his son could attend the same with tuition cuts. Regency also pays tuition for anyone who works on campus, including many middle class kids.

      1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
        Dick Hall-Sizemore

        The University of Richmond used to allow children of employees to attend tuition-free. I don’t know if that is still the policy.

        1. Wahoo'74 Avatar
          Wahoo’74

          Our daughter was UR Class of ’10. She had a 3.8 GPA with several activities and was a member of the Honor Board. After the 2008 crash that destroyed our 529’s she applied for a new merit scholarship but was denied. We applied for financial aid and were denied again, but the financial aid officer said she worked there so her kid could attend tuition free.

          That made me feel great as I wrote checks for the then $56,000 cost of attendance. Now 15 years later it’s $81,320 (https://financialaid.richmond.edu/applying/cost.html).

          1. Not Today Avatar
            Not Today

            The fact that you had the ability and resources to pay 56K? Whether b/c credit or assets or savings to draw upon? Privilege, thy name is Wahoo ’74. Most Americans can barely cover car repairs <1K.

          2. Wahoo'74 Avatar
            Wahoo’74

            Spare me your self-righteous liberal arrogance, “Not Today.”

            Tell me, do you demand to know someone’s low net worth before befriending them? Do you only buy your Chardonnay and Brie cheese for your cocktail hour enjoyment when they’re on sale at Costco?

            I graduated from college with student loans and no family money given to me. Everything I have today was garnered through hard work and sacrifice. 100% self made. I don’t apologize for any investment savings I have in retirement nor should I.

            Curious, did you put your way through college like I did? My point is I could do that 50 years ago. It’s impossible today.

            Liberal condescension, hubris, and disdain for the American middle class who are fed up is astounding.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            ” I could do that 50 years ago. It’s impossible today”

            Why is that? And does that justify the govt getting involved with loans and price controls for tuition/room/board?

          4. Not Today Avatar
            Not Today

            LOL. Dude, my husband and I received NADA from our families for school 20 years AFTER 1974 when student loans were no longer dischargeable in bankruptcy and college costs had skyrocketed. Now who’s assuming?

          5. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Wahoo 74 seems to think he “earned” his way through college and maybe you not! Maybe after your response, he might reassess and come back with a different view?

            But I’m still a bit curious why many seem to think we have “no choice” but to go thousands of dollars into debt for a college education.

            That’s THE problem! If most of us do that AND expect the govt to get involved and set the price… haven’t we really gone astray?

          6. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Wahoo 74 seems to think he “earned” his way through college and maybe you not! Maybe after your response, he might reassess and come back with a different view?

            But I’m still a bit curious why many seem to think we have “no choice” but to go thousands of dollars into debt for a college education.

            That’s THE problem! If most of us do that AND expect the govt to get involved and set the price… haven’t we really gone astray?

      2. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        And the way that Kathleen did it was not uncommon at all in prior years… She said it well ” I had a family to feed” and yet she managed to feed her family, get a good college education, and not have crippling debt.

        It CAN be done!

        1. Wahoo'74 Avatar
          Wahoo’74

          Not at $80K+ you can’t unless your “job” is selling drugs.

          We are talking about full time kids who get part time jobs paying minimum wage.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Like ANYTHING else in life, it’s about what you can AFFORD, not what you want and are willing to go into debt up to your eyeballs for years and only that because of govt subsidies. Such loans would not be available in the typical loan market for any other product.

            At some point, folks need to take direct responsibility for the cost of what they want and not expect govt subsidies and such.

            Own the want.

          2. Wahoo'74 Avatar
            Wahoo’74

            Larry, I agree with you there. We could no longer have our 3 daughters attend UVA out of state or UR. The villains are the universities.

            Recall that Obama took over the Student Loan Program responsibility in 2010. When I attended college federal loans were disbursed and underwritten by private commercial banks who needed proof of “ability to repay.” Obama changed that, so now there are zero underwriting criteria and unknowing kids and ignorant parents take on high five to low six figure student debt because the Feds hand out the loans like Monopoly money!

            I have proposed for years that colleges have to have skin in the game. Make colleges liable for say 25% of defaulted student debt. I guaranty they would find a way to cut overhead expenses and lower tuition once they start funding student loans taken out to pay their absurd tuition costs. Now they don’t give a damn since it’s “other peoples’ money.”

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            I don’t think universities are any more villains than car dealerships, to be honest. The market works when consumers define what they are willing to pay for. College loans done in the auto market would have the very same effect.

            We don’t want the govt deciding what the price of something ought to be, not for cars or homes or college.

            It’s one thing to get a loan for college tuition – it’s quite another to get a loan for room & board which is purely a discretionary thing that consumers do choose and end up paying interest on
            for years… for food already eaten and rooms already lived in – with no return like you’d get with
            a loan on a house.

            Before the availability of these loans, people went to College.. and paid for it … and some folks
            had to essentially work their way through college.

            I knew a Marine… got out of the service… had the GI bill but had to get a job to support himself and so worked during the day as a legal para and went to school at night – and graduated as
            a lawyer. He earned his education.

            It’s nutty what we are doing now. We can blame Obama but in the end, we took the loan
            that we did not have to take.. He made it easier but in the end it was our decision to do it.

            We seem to want to blame others for things we are not willing to do ourselves.. it’s their fault we signed on for a loan. Since when? It’s not the car dealers fault.. even if the govt helped subsidize the loan.. it’s still not the fault of the folks offering the product for some price… we accept that price and go into hock… no one forced us to do that.

        2. Wahoo'74 Avatar
          Wahoo’74

          Kathleen went part time as an adult. I’m talking about full time college costs for 17-22 year old kids.

  3. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    To continue the sticker price analogy on a car. Yes, you may get offered thousands off the sticker but the price you ultimately pay in monthly payments may well be crippling…. if
    you bought “more” car than you can really afford.

    I still question the rationality of getting a loan to pay for living expenses, i.e. room and board, vice paying for it out of pocket through whatever means might be possible so you’re not paying it off in debt.

    To carry thousands of dollars of debt for years, that is paying, with interest, for food already eaten does not make financial sense to me. It’s like getting a long term long for a vacation with lodging and food costs. Not smart!

    College is a complex financial challenge but like the car analogy, some folks just toss all reason and care to the wind and saddle themselves with really onerous debt , and through it all, many (not all) are expecting/assuming some kind of financial “help” from someone else, uncle sam/taxpayers/etc.

    And the Colleges know this and play it, without a care as to what happens to their graduates downstream financially.

    So, too many folks are terrible/uninformed consumers of higher education and it’s costing many individuals as well as the country itself as there are those who want other taxpayers to pay for poor decisions made by other in buying college.

    We’d look at a young person starting out who paid 70-80K with years of payments, for a fancy jeep and know what a poor decision but we don’t have the same view if the product is a college education.

    The simple thing is in that Rolling Stones song: https://youtu.be/krxU5Y9lCS8?si=svzZFZlA3PyGK793

    We’re supposed to be responsible with our finances and many are , except when it comes to college.

  4. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    Well there you go. The path for colleges and universities to skirt around the SCOTUS’s affirmative action decision.

  5. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Consistent with Will’s argument is the fact that the debt level of students graduating with student debt has leveled off Virginia. The sticker price continues to increase but it is offset to a significant degree by discounts and scholarships. That’s my impression at least. I need to dig up the facts.

    That doesn’t change the fact that some families are paying the full freight. In other words, college tuitions are increasingly a mechanism for wealth redistribution — affluent families pay more than ever while the boodle is spread to students in lower income brackets.

    Also, remember that we’re talking about tuition here. Not fees, not room, not board, all of which are inflation-afflicted and not discounted.

    1. VaPragamtist Avatar
      VaPragamtist

      “Also, remember that we’re talking about tuition here. Not fees, not room, not board, all of which are inflation-afflicted and not discounted.”

      Not really. Financial aid is packaged against Total Cost of Attendance, to include fees, room, board, and necessary expenses.

      Whether or not those costs are also over-inflated by universities is another question. Why does a meal at an on-campus dining hall cost just as much as eating at a restaurant off campus? The university has to its advantage good historical data to work with, reduced risk (many require on campus students to purchase meal plans, which equates to automatic revenue), statewide procurement contracts/buying in bulk, and economies of scale. The math doesn’t add up to me.

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        and room and board IS a choice.

        Most folks live close enough to some Colleges that can be attended from home.

        One question is are the Colleges “making money” off of room & board?

        Does it provide revenue for anything beyond the actual costs of providing room and board?

        Could a student live off campus by sharing an apt and doing their own food for less?

        1. VaPragamtist Avatar
          VaPragamtist

          “Room and board” is generally factored into TCA regardless of living on campus or off (because a student still has to live somewhere and eat). There’s definitely ways to minimize costs.

          While someone could choose to a college within driving distance, they would still need to be accepted there. And many colleges require freshmen to live on campus.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Right but living on campus pretty much doubles the loan and when it is a student of a lower income family, and the degree is a modest one in terms of salary potential.. it can end up with decades of debt. It’s terrible financial “planning”.

          2. VaPragamtist Avatar
            VaPragamtist

            Attending a university is certainly a choice. The value of the degree compared to the debt is dependent on a variety of factors.

            I’m not sure what you’re arguing here. JAB said “we’re talking about tuition.” I clarified and said that financial aid is packaged against total cost of attendance (TCA), to include tuition, room, board, fees, and necessary expenses.

            The TCA is the “sticker price” of education for which some are paying in full (out of pocket, or through loans); and others are having subsidized in varying amounts.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            I’m basically arguing that people make choices that make up the demand and taking on debt for college ought to be as carefully considered as a car or other big ticket item that one is getting a loan for. It’s not like we have no choices but to go into debt up to our eyeballs for college. Lots of folks don’t do that , they make choices to NOT do that. For all of us, except those are truly wealthy, we have to balance what we want with what we can afford and that includes college. There are lots of ways to get a good, high-market value education without going into serious and crippling debt as the easy choice on the front end.

            People need to understand that “easy” debt is NOT “good debt”.

    2. Eric the half a troll Avatar
      Eric the half a troll

      It seems to me that in our country’s history, the cost of a college education was one of the primary vehicles used to retain and generate wealth in one class of society. Using financial aid to even that playing field is nothing new. You can label it “wealth redistribution” if you like but it clearly benefits society (similar to the benefits we realized from the GI Bill post-WWII).

      1. walter smith Avatar
        walter smith

        It’s wealth re-distribution by Marxists, for Marxists…and the profligate. All money laundering for the Left.
        It punishes thrift and savings. Rewards living to excess. Encourages going in debt…to get a degree that will not pay for it. But you keep trolling! Your types have made everything they have taken over better, haven’t you?
        The blacks living in slums in Richmond…now that the statues are gone, have seen a drop in crime, better schools, better city services, amirite?
        (This would be true for the whites living in slums in the city, and the blacks and whites not living in slums, just the “price” of Lefty benevolence falls mostly, disproportionately, on blacks. Way to go Lefties! You care so much!)

      2. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        Nonsense, my tuition at VCU in the early ’70s was less than $250 a semester. It was not a barrier to entry or a tool to “retain and generate wealth in one class of society.”

        Your premise is false and a distraction from the monster of higher education we confront today.

        1. Eric the half a troll Avatar
          Eric the half a troll

          So $500 a year does not sound like much but it was still 5% of the median annual US income in 1970 and those living in poverty would certainly see that amount as a barrier to entry. Of course, there was still financial aid for those who needed it in the 1970s (maybe not open to everybody though, of course) but that was not wealth-redistribution, right? The further one goes back in US history, the greater the barrier to entry into the educated classes. Current (undiscounted) college tuition is about twice this percentage so your point that there has been a relative increase is not incorrect (nor news).

          1. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Just more troll blather, but thanks for grudgingly acknowledging I was “not incorrect”. High praise from a troll fragment.

          2. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Still blather, but thanks for the grudging approval that I was “not incorrect”. That’s high praise from a fraction of a troll. Keep up the good work.

  6. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Here’s some data from SCHEV: The total value of “tuition waivers” in Virginia’s public four-year colleges and universities in 2021-22 was $16 million. VCU accounted for $5 million of that total, Virginia Tech $6.8 million. (University of Virginia — $34,000. W&M — $17,000.)

    The SCHEV page detailing tuition data seems to be down at the moment, but I’m pretty sure that total tuition revenue for Virginia’s public 4-years runs well over $2 billion. In other words, tuition discounting in Virginia’s public system of higher ed is a tiny fraction of the whole. The main mechanism for making college more affordable is the granting of scholarships, which the General Assembly funds as a separate line item in the budget.

    The lack of discounting may factor into rankings such as one I received in my inbox yesterday, citing degreechoices.com, showing that three of the most expensive universities in the country for in-state students are in Virginia — topped by William & Mary (No. 1), followed by VMI (No. 2), and UVa (No. 5).

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Is that correct? UVA waived only thirty-four thousand dollars in tuition? Do they perhaps put more emphasis on “merit scholarships” as a method for providing tuition discounts?

  7. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    To continue the sticker price analogy on a car. Yes, you may get offered thousands off the sticker but the price you ultimately pay in monthly payments may well be crippling…. if
    you bought “more” car than you can really afford.

    I still question the rationality of getting a loan to pay for living expenses, i.e. room and board, vice paying for it out of pocket through whatever means might be possible so you’re not paying it off in debt.

    To carry thousands of dollars of debt for years, that is paying, with interest, for food already eaten does not make financial sense to me. It’s like getting a long term long for a vacation with lodging and food costs. Not smart!

    College is a complex financial challenge but like the car analogy, some folks just toss all reason and care to the wind and saddle themselves with really onerous debt , and through it all, many (not all) are expecting/assuming some kind of financial “help” from someone else, uncle sam/taxpayers/etc.

    And the Colleges know this and play it, without a care as to what happens to their graduates downstream financially. New customers come on the car lot – every day… all ready for the transaction!

    So, too many folks are terrible/uninformed consumers of higher education and it’s costing many individuals as well as the country itself as there are those who want other taxpayers to pay for poor decisions made by other in buying college.

    We’d look at a young person starting out who paid 70-80K with years of payments, for a fancy jeep and know what a poor decision it is but we don’t have the same view if the product is a college education.

    The simple thing is in that Rolling Stones song: https://youtu.be/krxU5Y9lCS8?si=svzZFZlA3PyGK793

    We’re supposed to be responsible with our finances, and many are , except when it comes to college.

    It’s much, much worse for some kid and parents that are already low income… IMO. Whatever chance the kid might have had at making their way in the world is squashed by the cost of higher ed.

    This is not something the Govt should “control”. This is an issue with consumers who make choices about what they buy. As long as consumers are willing to buy college at enormous debt cost to themselves… it’s really not a govt problem any more than it’s a govt problem for folks who blow up their credit cards.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      If it is a state-supported school, government is already involved and could do something about it.

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        Not by much. The point has been made that the state contribution is minimal these days and there is no way it can really control the dynamics of consumers who are willing to pay way more for something than is reasonable. It would be like having the govt get involved in how much a new car should cost IMO. The core problem is people and their inability/refusal to deal with the real world financial realities and willingness to take on life-crippilng debt in exchange for – not a college education but a “college experience”. How can the govt really change this?

  8. Ronnie Chappell Avatar
    Ronnie Chappell

    One reason student loan balances keep getting bigger is that people fail to fully repay the interest owed month to month and it gets added to the principal. We’ve actually created a system designed to encourage people to go deeper and deeper into debt.

    Won’t be long until the Biden Administration recommends cancellation of EV auto loans. Read in the WSJ that the average monthly payment on car loans in the US today is $700. And the cost of the average used car $30,000 is higher than the student debt held by half of student loan borrowers.

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2022-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2021-student-loans.htm

  9. VaPragamtist Avatar
    VaPragamtist

    Like all analogies, Will’s is overly simplistic. What happens is this:

    Parents fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) based on the previous year’s tax returns. That determines the estimated family contribution toward the child’s education. . .basically how much the family is able to pay based on the Total Cost of Attendance (tuition + fees + room + board + necessary expenses). The institution uses that as a baseline for awarding the financial aid package. The financial aid package consists of federal aid, institutional aid, any outside scholarships and grants, and the remainder, which needs to be made up out of pocket or in outside loans.

    The “merit based” aid mentioned in the article serves three purposes: first, to incentivize highly desirable students to apply; second, to incentivize accepted students to enroll; and third, to redistribute money from those who can afford the full sticker price to those who can’t (see discussions on advantages for legacy and donor applicants).

    So to continue with the analogy problem for some is twofold: (1) administrative bloat is drastically increasing the sticker price of the car, with middle managers sitting in offices doing the same job for 3 times the salary as their counterparts in state government with the same roles and responsibilities; and (2) the car companies are trying to make cars “affordable” for everyone, so the “equitable” redistribution causes some to take out loans to cover the sticker price less whatever discount they’re offered.

  10. Cynthia Phillips Avatar
    Cynthia Phillips

    my daughter at 53 finally finished her loan. except for a year or two deferment she paid regularly. she lived at home for 2 1/2 years. work study the last year when she rented apt at ODU and shared an apt with 2 others. how many times did she pay the principal? I’m sure she paid that principal many times over. if she had had the whole 4 years on full financial aid, she would still be paying on it. this is ridiculous. interest rate was supposed to be a permanent 1 1/2 percent. haha. 1990 graduation.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      At 53? I have to ask – if she had it to do all over again… ??

      We treat college loans like we do mortgages on homes.. except at some point, you’re no longer upside-down on the loan!

      1. Cynthia Phillips Avatar
        Cynthia Phillips

        nope knowing what i do now i would have insisted on a trade school. I insisted they had to have a degree as I couldn’t get a job as a Real Estate apppraiser, being female to start with and no degree. just a business school secretarial certificate. when I applied in VB after probably about 10 years as a Realtor i was told no degree no job. so i said i could get a degree in basket weaving and it would be ok. he said yes. but as a single mom, 2 daughters, grandchild and my mother there was no way i could help. they both had jobs but changing the program from what we agreed to did us in. the other daughter still paying on hers

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          People CAN find their way ahead… without onerous, crippling debt… it’s just harder but
          it’s on us to make choices on it, not others. IMO.

Leave a Reply

Read More