Reply to Michelle singleterry article yesterday

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Great outcome! The reality is that most students can chose between a range of more and less expensive options of similar quality. There's this myth out there that "investing" in a more prestigious school pays off - but no student is choosing between Harvard and community college. The reality is choosing between similar options at difference price points.

I do disagree with some underlying ideas in this column. First of all, student loan deb IS still "good debt". Students who need to borrow should not be deterred from school. If the daughter needed to borrow to get her UMD education that still would be worthwhile, within limits. She will have income eventually, so it is not irrational to invest in future earning capacity as long as the debt load is reasonable.

Second, the parents may be doing a disservice by making her work over the summers to pay for books & incidentals. Summers can be key times for internships and travel, both of which can help landing jobs after graduation. If the parents could subsidize her summers that might really pay off.[/quote]

I don't think student loan is "good debt" anymore. I mean, yeah, it's a proper use of leverage since it leads to an ROI, but student loan debt is also the only thing you cannot shed in bankruptcy. [/quote]

If you are choosing between no college (or really bad college) and student debt, student debt is definitely still "good debt." A worthwhile college education should absolutely increase your earning capacity enough to handle a modest monthly loan payment. Student loans have appropriately helped millions of students get educations. There are many more nuances and outright fraudulent sectors (for profit colleges), but financing higher education with loans is a good option for many. [/quote]

I agree with this, but only to a point.  Many (too many) students are having to service debt amounts higher than their first year's salary.  At some point, it makes little sense.

We intend to get our kids through undergrad without loans.  If pressed, we may agree to some loans, but I would put a cap of say $20K total as the ceiling of what would be acceptable to me.[/quote]

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