Lessons

I. It’s All About the Money, Money, MoneyII. Deciding On A College 101III. Deciding On A College 202IV. You Want Me To Go Where?V. Some More About the Money

Homework

According to the Project on Student Loan Debt, 67 percent of students graduating from four year colleges and universities in 2008 had student loans, averaging $23,200.

There are horror stories galore about people who have gotten drowned by their student loan debt: that are not bankruptable!

Many people (including parents) argue that student loans are an investment and that future earnings will more than cover the payments, so they are worth it.

It’s impossible to know the full impact on student loans on building wealth because it is such a new phenomenon.

A 2002 Nellie May study found that 21 percent of student loan borrowers put off having children because of their student loan debt.

High student loans choke off a young person’s ability to leave a job or even move cities (because they can’t quit their job)

Although it is hard to put a number on it (purposely of course), many estimate 1/3 of student loan borrowers will default.

Many people say that student loan debt is good (because it increases wages).

Later in college when everything else has been used and an unpaid internship may cut into time to work should be the only time student loans are even considered.

Subsidized Stafford loans: federally guaranteed fixed-rate loans that are available based on financial need.

Unsubsidized Stafford loans: federally guaranteed loans that are available to all students regardless of financial need.

Federal Perkins Loan: a 5 percent subsidized loans but most people don’t qualify because of parental income

One in three student loan borrowers are surprised at how large the payment is the first time they receive the bill

College loans are often sold as a good investment because of the increase in wages versus not going to college

If you plan on starting a family, do not take out student loans

The student loan deductible interest argument is basically the same as the mortgage interest argument.

If your child wants to become a writer, a teacher, or a social worker, student loans are crazy!

Planning on student loan forgiveness is not a good plan.

The words college and investment are often used in the same sentence.

Most college marketing compare what a graduate earns from their school versus no degree.

The worthiness of an investment depends on 2 factors: the cost of the investment and the return.

A 2000 study showed that people who got accepted to both Rutgers and Yale, but chose Rutgers had the same earnings twenty years into their careers.

Students graduate with the least debt from the school Princeton.

Students graduate with the most debt from the school Seton Hall.

Only 3 of 20 CEO’s of the top 20 Fortune 500 companies got their bachelor’s degree from an “elite” school.

“Your own motivation, ambition, and talents will determine your success more than the college name on your diploma.”

There is scant evidence to suggest that class sizes are an important factor in what students get out of college.

61% of Harvard Law School students had received their undergrad outside of the Ivy League

The US News and World Report college ranking mean nothing!

When it boils down to it, there is just not enough evidence out there to decide what makes one school “better” than another.