magley64 Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 I hope to hell he's a doctor in a high paying specialty. That's a chunk of change for schooling.Mechanical engineer, working for a specialty bellows company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OsuMj Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Mechanical engineer, working for a specialty bellows company.Well, now I'm confused... how did a mechanical engineering rack up that much school debt? I'm leaning towards, "he's doing it wrong", but perhaps its a special circumstance?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue03636 Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Well, now I'm confused... how did a mechanical engineering rack up that much school debt? I'm leaning towards, "he's doing it wrong", but perhaps its a special circumstance?? I'm glad I'm not the only one. I would think even a masters would only be 100k tops. My civil bachelor was about 50k total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magley64 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Well, now I'm confused... how did a mechanical engineering rack up that much school debt? I'm leaning towards, "he's doing it wrong", but perhaps its a special circumstance??Ohio northern university. Apparently private schools are pricey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnone Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Ohio northern university. Apparently private schools are pricey.That has to be one of the dumbest things I can think to do. That's crazy money to pay for that degree. It might make sense of you get a lot of scholarships but no way if you are financing it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Just 'cause you're smart enough to memorize chit from a text book doesn't mean you're 'smart' enough to be financially savvy. Whole lotta folks in the same boat these days. Whole house carpet--no payments for 1 year? Sign me up. 90 days--same as cash? Hell yeah! Buy here--pay here--no credit check? What could possibly go wrong? Re-fi my home mortgage for 110% of the market value? It's a no-brainer. Instant gratification and repay with tomorrow's dollars. Hmmm. Kind'a like the gub'mint. Free medical. Free rent. Free food stamps. Free unlimited unemployment payments. Money grows on trees. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat. God help our chilluns. They are so fucked…. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OsuMj Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) I just looked at ONU's yearly tuition - almost $37K a year.... that is insane, and just dumb. So, maybe you get a small wage increase as a result of having a higher ranking schools name on your resume, but still doesn't make sense financially if you're $100K in debt when you start. Edited July 25, 2014 by OsuMj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shittygsxr Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 A four year liberal arts degree from oberlin college will set you back $260k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OsuMj Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 jeebus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OsuMj Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 We were told by our college dean that if you got a 3.0 or higher, there was basically no reason why you couldn't get your masters & phd paid for. I feel like a lot of engineers aren't told this as undergrads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baptizo Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I had to exhaust my G.I. Bill to pay for school but ran it dry before finishing my degree. While weighing my options to pay for it with loans and/or grants, I wound up getting a decent job back home which led to where I'm at now. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't wind up borrowing any money to pay for my education and being trapped in that kind of debt (I'm currently debt-free). Of course, now I'm fed up with my corporate job and it is an everyday struggle not to hand in my resignation. If I go back to school, it'll be for skills and not a degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connie14 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) I almost went to Case Western to study ME. I made a financial decision to study engineering at tOSU. I got through with no debt by living with parents and working. I got my previous employer to pay half my MBA. Two degrees and no debt is the smartest decision I have ever made. Approximately 10 years ago, I talked to 2 law schools while I was considering a JD. At that time, it did not think it was a wise investment with my personal circumstances. This thread has reinforced my analysis at the time. Edited July 25, 2014 by Connie14 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiomike Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 My daughter is currently going to college using student loans. Great help but the payback can be backbreaking for some. She is doing this while working a part time job and raising 3 small children and dealing with a abusive husband. So she wants to divorce his sorry ass but cannot generate the funds since he took them to near bankruptcy a couple years back. In her case the loans were a Godsend allowing her to potentially be able to make it without anyone helping her, but I have wondered how long the loan payback will be holding her down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shittygsxr Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) If you have student debt that you can't afford then either you chose the wrong major or the wrong school. Maybe both.Second it means that your parents loved their vices more than they loved you. Don't repeat the cycle. start putting money aside for you children's education Edited July 25, 2014 by shittygsxr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh1234 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I don't understand all the hatred for college degrees. Yes, college is expensive, but in a thread about making sound financial choices, then being in debt for 10 years (o whatever) it takes to pay back the loans is well worth it if it means your earning potential is so much higher for the next 20-30-40 years of your working life. Plenty of studies have been done that look at earning potential WITH a college degree as opposed to WITHOUT one. Yes, you can cite all the exceptions to the rule, but the fact of the matter is that college grads make far more money on average than HS grads that didn't go to college. Yes, you can also also tell me "yeah but the extra money they make goes to paying back debt!" but you know that once the debt is paid off, the "extra" money they make because they have a degree is 100% profit that the non-college person doesn't get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) Josh: Not sure anyone here is espousing going thru life with only a HS education, although there are many trade positions that are a fine alternative to college if that's where your talents and interests lie. What I believe most here are posting is that it doesn't make a lot of financial sense to be so quick to sign up for $100K+ of what are essentially interest-deferred installment loans without researching what the pay-off will eventually cost and understanding what sacrifices must be made in the short-term--5 to 10 years post-college--to finish your degree program. It isn't any different than those who recently (mid-2000s era) signed up for interest-only variable mortgages on houses they really couldn't afford in the belief that their home value would continue to grow at 10-30% each year, and then found themselves 'under water' to the tune of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars only to shrug their shoulders and ask for the taxpayer to bail them out. Seems to me that if you're smart enough to go to college, you ought'a be able to do at least a simple analysis of the risk-reward equation…. Reader's Digest version: I don't hear too many people complaining about receiving the loans while they attend college. I do hear a lot of complaining once they graduate and suddenly say: "Damn, I didn't know I was gonna have to pay THIS MUCH every month!" That's the big disconnect I see…. Edited July 25, 2014 by Bubba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magley64 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I'm happy with my choices, I'm doing pretty good these days. Had a couple rough patches starting up, but I had a good support system and a practical wife/fiancé. We've got more debt than I'd like, but we're digging out of it as opposed to racking up more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 If you have student debt that you can't afford then either you chose the wrong major or the wrong school. Maybe both.Second it means that your parents loved their vices more than they loved you. Don't repeat the cycle. start putting money aside for you children's education Don't disagree that pre-planning early in your children's life for education expenses makes sense. However, there should also be some serious sacrifice on the part of the student as well. I worked full-time during summers to save money for tuition, and part-time during the school year to off-set living expenses. And yeah, I had help from my parents, thankfully. Most financial planners today will tell you it's a poor idea to incur heavy debt to fund a child's college education at the risk to one's financial security in retirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnone Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 The studies are biased simply because rich and smart people are very likely to go to college. Poor and dumb are less likely to get a degree. If the rich and smart skipped college it would likely narrow the wage gap considerably. Having said that, I still hope all my kids go. At this point it may be 3 of 4. But I won't be just paying if they don't take it seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3.504 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I'm just a regular old non college educated idiot.I spin wrenches on cars for money. Sometimes it makes me feel like a prostitute, but that's neither here nor there.I had 30k in trade school debt.I started my first job with some hand tools in a plastic tote, now I own 60k in tools, not including the price of my tool box that I just bought (financed).I graduated mechanic school at the age of 21, now I'm 30 years old and all of that is 100% paid off by my $40-45k/year income.Just pay a lot more than required a month. It sucks while you're in it, but pretty awesome once it's over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I went to a 2 year school for IT and graduated, then planned on going to finish my bachelors while I worked full time with my associates. I have a decent amount of student loan debt but nothing crazy. Some things came up in life and I stopped finishing my bachelors but landed a job at a fortune 500 company and worked with my associates degree. I have been here for 5 years or so and worked my way up into an engineering role and make pretty decent money for being in IT, especially with a 2 year degree. This field seems to be one where they dont really care where you went to school, or what degree you have as long as you know your shit. I still havent finished my bachelors and if I knew then what I know now I wouldn't have even started the degree to eliminate most of my student loan debt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh1234 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I used to think the secret to getting out of debt & having lots of extra money around was to be a DINK.... Dual-Income, No Kids. So now I'm married, and don't have any kids, and my wife & I both make great money... But, LOL, it's just not working out! She makes me spend it at IKEA on things like NEW furniture, and new windows for the condo, and crap like weddings! And vacations! If it wasn't for the sex and food, it wouldn't have been worth it Actually her tuition for the fall semester at grad school was $4,000 that we just paid... Her employer reimburses her $5,000 max per year for school, so we'll get back $1,000 of that 4 that we paid (the rest was used earlier this year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) I'm not sold that everyone needs to go to college, but a lot of employers will cite a degree as a reason to choose one candidate over another. I will help my kid(s) pay for college, but I'm going to be insistent that they have an actual plan beyond "I'll figure out what I want to do when I'm in college." I went into college not knowing why I was going - that's just what you do after high school (or so I thought). I wasted a lot of time that I could have spent more productively. About 3/4 of my way through my English degree, I realized that my dream job was automotive journalism - get paid to drive expensive cars, and then write about it for motor trend. Like I said, I was 3/4 of the way through my degree by then. Except when I actually started looking into the field seriously, it became very apparent very quickly that Auto mags would rather have an automotive engineer who can write and photograph than some writer who knows a little about cars. I would have majored in engineering, and minored in journalism and photography. I also would have done more auto-cross events to get some real driving skills. Minus the serious engineering portion, I could have been driving competitively and learning to take pictures well in high school. THEN gone to college for a reason, rather than simply going. My child(ren) will not make the same mistake. Edited July 25, 2014 by redkow97 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Alot of careers only care about the degree and not even what its in. My wife for instance went to school for exercise phys so that she could go for physical therapy. She graduated with that degree but changed her mind on being a physical therapist. Worked at a doctors office at the time and was able to get a referral to be a pharmaceutical sales rep. All they cared about was that she had a 4 year degree, that being said thats not a typical situation to get a job like that. She had experience working in a doctors office and also knew medical terms from her schooling that she could use in the pharma job, just all fell into place I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Alot of careers only care about the degree and not even what its in. My wife for instance went to school for exercise phys so that she could go for physical therapy. She graduated with that degree but changed her mind on being a physical therapist. Worked at a doctors office at the time and was able to get a referral to be a pharmaceutical sales rep. All they cared about was that she had a 4 year degree, that being said thats not a typical situation to get a job like that. She had experience working in a doctors office and also knew medical terms from her schooling that she could use in the pharma job, just all fell into place I suppose. This, especially in the world of grad schools. The employers just want to see that you made it, hence all these online schools offering Master's in whatever you want, all done online. As for the DINK, we've talked about that many times after having Luke. We both acknowledged we wouldn't change it for the world, BUT we would be 100% debt free, in 2-3 years if we didn't have him. Granted we go a tad overboard and travel a lot, but if we didn't have a kid and took 2 years off from traveling, we would have been completely done with any bills. We didn't want to wait though as I was getting older and so was she, so we chose not to wait. I don't regret it at all, but we often talk about how different things would have been had we waited until my parents age, 34/37 and had our first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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