I try to explain this to people and they look at me like I’m an idiot … in much the same way as they reacted to my real estate prognostications 6-7 years ago.

I recently attended a disso hg in a case I worked on where the wife (age 60) narrowly escaped the 64K+ debt her spouse had recently rung up at a well-known for-profit “university.” Luckily, when she found out about the extent of this borrowing just last year (after receiving numerous letters from his SL lenders hounding him for payment), she was able to eventually close ALL the credit accounts she had with him and so has no joint debt. He ended up taking a job with a company he worked with over 20 years ago, in a position that requires only a HS Diploma. Their house was foreclosed on in May 2011 (a house SHE inherited free and clear in 1993)! Unfortunately, she commingled the “cash-out” refinance funds with her spouse during the pendency of the marriage and so now has nothing, is “renting a room” and has no health insurance. I’m reasonably sure that this is not what her parent(s) intended when they left her their family home.

Although student debt is ONLY on the credit report of the student and NOT the spouse, its implications for the couple’s financial future are great and far-reaching. If the spouse’s income is going to be used to service the debt, how much of his/her income will be available for monthly bills and daily needs? And what if the “newly-educated,” indebted spouse isn’t employed at all or vastly underemployed??

I also know an early 50’s female who rec’d a doctorate-level degree in May from a “private” university. Payments on her (approx $120K) student loan start next month.

I’ve seen a lot of young people fall for these “sales pitches,” but, for the life of me, why would a baby boomer attempt this with age discrimination rampant all over the country? IMO, it’s absolutely financial and retirement suicide, esp in this economy.

If tuition prices crash it’s going to be painful for the class of 2011 to be paying twice the Loan payment as the class of 2016.

[quote=poorgradstudent]…As for older workers, I think it’s a combination of layoffs and feeling unhappy with their current jobs. My own mother never went to college and works retail; there was a time she considered getting her degree but decided the math didn’t just add up. For her it was a straight money decision, but there’s a lot of people where there’s a prestige and emotional component…[/quote]

poorgradstudent, what if the “unhappy older worker” is an educator and was told at the time by their employer that if they completed a particular graduate program that they could get more “prestige and pay” with an advanced degree. Then after several years going to school part-time (more expensive that way but they still had to work), they completed the degree and now attendance is down at the institution they are employed at so the job they were “promised” upon entering their graduate program (and taking out their student loans) is no longer available?

In today’s economic climate, there’s isn’t any “guarantee” that these advanced degrees pay off in the form of a higher salary … for ANYONE. And when a “boomer” doesn’t have time to recover from the (unnecessary and unwise) borrowing they just did, they screw themselves and everyone in their immediate family who depends upon all or part of their income.

“Prestige” or a “title” means nothing if you can’t even make enough net monthly salary over and above what you did w/o the “title” to make your student loan payments ($500 – $800 mo minimum?). Then whatever is left over will come out of your SS payments (if the OASDI program is still around at that time, lol). Upon default, an ex-student’s income tax refund is intercepted by the collector for the Federal “agency” (Sallie Mae) who made the loan. If this interception is from a JOINT RETURN . . . so be it. “Boomers” can’t usually GET educational grants or govm’t loans based upon “need” because they don’t qualify (they own too many assets [even if non-liquid and tied up with a spouse]) and there is no “parent co-signer.” They are indebted forever and unwittingly (or on purpose?) fvcked themselves up in retirement. Of course, any balance will show up as a creditor’s claim on their estate after they die.

I agree with your mom. As a HS grad or a person with limited college credits, at least she DID remember how to “do the math,” lol.

I don’t have to worry about my kid(s). They have not and will not take out ANY STUDENT LOANS . . . ever.

The student loan racket started not long ago, when private banks were allowed to make money off of students.

Nationalizing the student loan industry is a first step towards reform:
http://www.educationnews.org/higher_education/32602.html

This is a good documentary on how students are being taken advantage of:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/

[quote=briansd1]The student loan racket started not long ago, when private banks were allowed to make money off of students.

Nationalizing the student loan industry is a first step towards reform:
http://www.educationnews.org/higher_education/32602.html

This is a good documentary on how students are being taken advantage of:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/%5B/quote%5D
I don’t follow your logic. If student loans are nationalized, how will that keep college cost down? The only way I can see of keeping colleges from raising the rates is to limit the amount of students that can apply. Nationalizing student loan = low interest rate & increase the pool of students = increasing tuition. Supply and demand at work.

I think the good news is that through threads like this one people are starting to get it.