Your child should not take out more loans than they can reasonably pay back with a median job in their chosen field. Your time would be better spent researching colleges that have good ROI or that allow you to transfer in credits from community or in-state public universities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree on STEM. I read an article the other day on Time.com that was a very convincing account of how manufacturing is coming back to America, but the assembly lines are going to be run by robots and the people who have jobs need to know how to work the machines, which will require at least a 2-year degree and possibly a 4-year degree eventually.

That would be great if he was strong in math and science. Unfortunately, he's strong in English and writing but hates math. Now what?

Economics.

He'll struggle a bit, but persistence matters. I'm 34, $200k, and I suck compared to everyone. It's decent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree on STEM. I read an article the other day on Time.com that was a very convincing account of how manufacturing is coming back to America, but the assembly lines are going to be run by robots and the people who have jobs need to know how to work the machines, which will require at least a 2-year degree and possibly a 4-year degree eventually.

That would be great if he was strong in math and science. Unfortunately, he's strong in English and writing but hates math. Now what?

You don't need to be strong in math and science to go into a STEM field. Just be persistent. Believe me, lots of people work in this field who don't have the talent for it but they know it provides better paying jobs so they got the degree (many with very terrible grades). He can do something on the side related to English as his hobby after he comes home from his steady income STEM job. Just like lots of artists who work as doctors and lawyers as their day jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Not expecting, but knowledgable about options for relief. I would recommend trying to maximize federal loans and minimize private loans. Most repaym,ent/forgiveness programs only forgive federal loans. If your child is employed in public service and makes income based payments for 10 years, then the government will forgive any remaining balance.

What you mean o say s that the American taxpayer pays them off...

Yeah, just like we pay corn farmers to plant way more corn than we can use. They get subsidies for maximizing their plantings even though we don't actually need that much. Just saying.

Anonymous wrote:You should not take loans expecting them to be forgiven!!!

Seriously? People do it all the time. It's better than just defaulting!

Anonymous wrote:Agree on STEM. I read an article the other day on Time.com that was a very convincing account of how manufacturing is coming back to America, but the assembly lines are going to be run by robots and the people who have jobs need to know how to work the machines, which will require at least a 2-year degree and possibly a 4-year degree eventually.

That would be great if he was strong in math and science. Unfortunately, he's strong in English and writing but hates math. Now what?

Not expecting, but knowledgable about options for relief. I would recommend trying to maximize federal loans and minimize private loans. Most repaym,ent/forgiveness programs only forgive federal loans. If your child is employed in public service and makes income based payments for 10 years, then the government will forgive any remaining balance.

What you mean o say s that the American taxpayer pays them off...

Anonymous wrote:Have your DC complete his first two years at a community college while living at home and then transfer somewhere for his final two years. This is what I did and I have no college debt and a great career. I also didn't have mommy and daddy trying to figure out how to pay for my college, I had to figure it out myself.

This is good advice.

Anonymous wrote:You should not take loans expecting them to be forgiven!!!

Not expecting, but knowledgable about options for relief. I would recommend trying to maximize federal loans and minimize private loans. Most repaym,ent/forgiveness programs only forgive federal loans. If your child is employed in public service and makes income based payments for 10 years, then the government will forgive any remaining balance.

Agree with PPs about not planning on trying to get debt forgiven. I'm a teacher(who luckily didn't have loans), but I know people who I work with who had their loans forgiven...after teaching 10 years at a title I(high poverty) school. Not an easy task for the best of teachers, let alone someone thinking about doing it just to get their loans forgiven.

Have your DC complete his first two years at a community college while living at home and then transfer somewhere for his final two years. This is what I did and I have no college debt and a great career. I also didn't have mommy and daddy trying to figure out how to pay for my college, I had to figure it out myself.

You should not take loans expecting them to be forgiven!!!

Agree on STEM. I read an article the other day on Time.com that was a very convincing account of how manufacturing is coming back to America, but the assembly lines are going to be run by robots and the people who have jobs need to know how to work the machines, which will require at least a 2-year degree and possibly a 4-year degree eventually.

Hahaha no. It's like years and years of service to have the debt forgiven, and that is only for a select number of jobs and certain types of federal loans. Instead of forcing your kid to pay for college by choosing a degree and years in a career he or she doesn't want, why not direct him/her towards a state school and a STEM major/career?

DC will start college next year and student loans are in our future. I doubt we would qualify for any subsidized loans. What is your experience with having the debt forgiven at some point? What degree did you get, what job do you have and how did you qualify for forgiveness? Just trying to educate myself on the options out there. If you work for Teach for America after college is your debt forgiven?