Parents Paying for College is Real Reason College Has Become Unaffordable for Many

[Anonymous]

Let’s face it. Everyone who pays for their (grand)child’s college education is complicit. Few of my friend’s had parental help and we graduated from Top 20 schools. We paid with summer jobs, small jobs during during the school year (8-10h/wk), scholarships, and student loans. My mom took out a $2k loan my first year, which I paid back within a couple years after starting work. Sure, I got a small care package every semester with some snacks but the rest was on me. I am proud in having paid my own way. Ditto many friends. We also paid for our own weddings and houses. Grown kids now don’t even pay for their own phones, some are still taking money from their parents.

If we really want to make college affordable, parents need to stop paying.

[Anonymous]

What the heck? Your logic escapes me. How will that work exactly?

[Anonymous]

OP—You should demand a refund from that college you paid for. They gave you a diploma but forgot to ensure that you could form a logical idea.

[Anonymous]

Given the massive student debt that some have, I’m not sure your theory is correct.

[Anonymous]

Have to disagree. Graduated in 1987 and all of my friends and the vast majority of my public high school went to college and none of us took out loans - our parents paid (there were some who went into the military).

[Anonymous]

This is stupid. College is expensive because of propaganda that everyone needs college, collapse of the blue collar economy, and subsidized LOANS.

[Anonymous]

You have cause and effect backwards.

[Anonymous]

Actually that isn't it OP. It is due to the federal govt first backing the loans and then issuing loans. If a student can get 50k in loans the schools are going to charge 50k. The students with the most student loan debt "attend" the for profit schools like University of Phoenix.

You should really read up on it. Really fascinating and then you realize we are all getting fleeced because at some point it was decided that everyone should go to college.

[Anonymous]

I was a poor kid. I went to college on scholarships and grants. I took out 100k for grad school and paid it off relatively easily. I felt like everyone around me was rich. They were full pay. There were some kids whose parents didn’t think NYU or Boston University was worth it so they went to state schools.

I don’t think anything has changed. Poor kids can still go to college for almost free. Rich kids are full pay. Middle class kids go to state schools if they can’t pay for private.

[Anonymous]

Where are the jobs? Are they all outsourced?

When the jobs are there, colleges are affordable no matter what. You get a loan even a private loan, it makes sense to pay for the tuition.

Jobs are dying off, that is what makes colleges unaffordable.

[Anonymous]

No, it’s the fact that an 18 year old can get loans up to the cost of attendance at any school despite many schools not even coming close to returning on that investment

[Anonymous]

My parents paid for my college when I was growing up in Asia in 1987. This is hardly a new phenomenon, and college is still relatively affordable in my home country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it’s the fact that an 18 year old can get loans up to the cost of attendance at any school despite many schools not even coming close to returning on that investment

Not true.The 18 year old can get up to around $26,000 for all 4 years. The rest of the loan would be in the parent’s name.

[Anonymous]

Make colleges a guarantor for 10% of a student’s loan. If he/she goes in to default then the school has to pay back 10%. Schools will be highly proactive to reduce student debt. Sure, some colleges will go bust, but that is going to happen anyway with the demographic cliff approaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, it’s the fact that an 18 year old can get loans up to the cost of attendance at any school despite many schools not even coming close to returning on that investment

Not true.The 18 year old can get up to around $26,000 for all 4 years. The rest of the loan would be in the parent’s name.

For federal loans the current cap is 31k. No such cap for private loans.