[quote=flu]. . . I stopped trying to explain. Because you know what, people have already made up their mind about something, thinking anything out of the ordinary is impossible. But, hey not really my problem…So in essence, I don’t care, so as long as they don’t come back to me as ask me to pay more taxes to fund their kid fvckups. Because chances are, I only have sufficient funds to fund my own fvckup, let alone someone else’s….[/quote]
flu, if you’re referring here to my “rant” yesterday on the the “Surreal State of the State Speech” thread, it doesn’t reflect an opinion that kids should get LESS education that they’re capable of pursuing. It was in reference to the state budget, to illustrate the premise that if many public school teachers retired and weren’t replaced, they could be “replaced” by “working professional” community college teachers much cheaper who do not have a “teaching credential.” If HS kids could get graduation credit for vocational training, like in past decades, then they would be “career and work ready” in a trade upon HS graduation and thus be able to make money while they make up their minds what they want to do.
I just can’t stand to see all these kids come back home out of college unemployed (and no hope of finding suitable work in mom and dad’s town/city) with student loans coming due. I think it’s a deplorable situation that a young adult is beginning their life in deep debt.
I also think some kids went to college because of a herding mentality from their peers and also parents. They really didn’t know what they wanted to do and ended up changing majors one or more times and spending more time/money on campus, coming home with even higher student debt.
And no, advanced degrees are not for everyone. For instance, I know MANY JD’s who work as paralegals and legal assistants. Almost all of them have passed the bar exam. Some owe more than $120K for law school. The CA economy cannot support more attorneys (there are about 9,000 active licenses in SD County alone). Malpractice insurance premiums can be exorbitant for a sole practitioner. Three attorneys I do work for are well past retirement age and one will be there in less than two years. Many older attorneys don’t quit working. They get carried out of their office or chamber on a covered stretcher or in a pine box.
In light of the job climate today, these kids need to be VERY practical and willing to relocate after college/grad school. It’s hard paying all your own living expenses after landing a position away from your home base (even in a “cheap” place like TX), if your student loan payment is $1,500 mo for law school. “Straight out of the gate,” the new grad is fvcked for at least ten years. These are the ten years they could be buying property, getting married and having children. Instead, they’re a slave to debt service, living on Ramen. They could NEVER buy their first property in their early 20’s, like we did. The ones with grad-school debt will be lucky to buy their first property when they’re 40. And they are “overqualified” for many “regular” jobs with benefits, that pay the rent and put food on the table, and which are in greater supply than the “niche prestige” job they are seeking. It’s absolutely crazy to screw yourself up like that, ESPECIALLY in this economy.
There’s gotta be an immediate return on the education “investment” because servicing the debt begins begins 6 mos out of college. “Deferrals” cost the student a fortune (compare to a neg am mortgage).
For those students who graduate from college debt free because someone or an entity paid for their education or they worked their way thru, then this rant doesn’t apply to them.
