College students in Debt

Your Money: Placing the Blame as Students Are Buried in Debt


To read New York Times article on this subject click "Your money:" above


Since there aren't many jobs these days, more and more people are going back to school using government sponsored student loans. But 1 to 6 years later when someone gets their Bachelor's or Master's degree they might owe around 50,000 to 100,000 dollars. And then if they can't get a really good job then they are heading towards bankruptcy or poverty or both unless they have friends or relatives to help them out financially or to give them someplace to live. 


Once getting an advanced degree was a ticket to a good future. Now, it could just mean a ticket to bankruptcy for some because of unpaid student loans when they can't get a good enough job to pay back the loans in a timely way and make end meet.


However, I still think that the discipline necessary to get any degree usually makes any person who gets a degree more successful in life just because they can think in a more critical way about everything and be more realistic in many ways because of their diverse studies than the average high school Graduate. So, even though some might have to go bankrupt because of 100,000 dollars in loans at some point they will tend to be much more successful in whatever they do than the average High School Graduate who doesn't go on to college and obtain a degree.


Some parents make agreements with their children like: "If you obtain your Bachelor's degree or master's degree I will help pay off your loans if you actually finish and get your degree." I think more than ever this might be very helpful to make a promise like this as parents of college students if they can realistically do this in the end. In this way it takes incredible pressure off these students so they have less to worry about and therefore might succeed better in school by not having to worry about going bankrupt paying off their loans.


If it ever comes to bankruptcy when jobs aren't there just remember to obtain a good Bankruptcy lawyer. Most bankruptcy lawyers are fine with being paid over time. And if you have to go bankrupt think about doing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. In this type of bankruptcy often you can keep your home and car and you then usually pay off most of your loans at around 10% of what they originally were to be worked out by your lawyer and the Bankruptcy courts.  Most people do better with a Chapter 13. Though Chapter 7 bankruptcy you don't have to pay back money to any creditors except credit cards and student loans I personally see many more disadvantages than advantages to going Chapter 7. 


For example, many Chapter 7 bankruptcy people just wind up homeless because they lose so much that they can no longer even rent an apartment. So if it is possible go with Chapter 13 as a house and a car can be kept so you actually have a chance to recover in the long run.


So, when you get student loans these days there is always a danger that there won't be a job there to enable you to pay back these loans. If you want to be realistic you have to consider this danger to your future especially the way things look like now in the world.