There are so many jobs like welding, plumbing, etc that need to be done, pay very good money and require no ( or very small ) loans, and he studied something like English Literature ( for 100k$ !! ) complaining...
Hell, even studying something "elite" as he calls it like CS in his own time, on his own, doing projects to get some starting job in any CS-related industry would be preferrable.
People who study these bullshit degrees are in a mess of their own doing.
This problem is emphatically not of the students' own making. It's on the teachers and guidance counselors who insist on a college degree at any cost and brook no disagreement.
You're not entitled to high pay, just because you chose something fun instead of something in demand.
Literature is a really rewarding path of study, if you can pay for it. Sadly, this requires independent wealth or scholarships or a state school.
After all that he has been through, he still doesn’t seem to give consideration to his choice of major as the root source of the problem.
There is no one single person to point to, but I'll take a whack at it:
1. The father, who should know better, for agreeing to co-sign a loan for a worthless degree. A 5 minute conversation with ANYONE related to the degree would have told him the facts.
I wanted to be a video game designer and my parents would not sign for a loan for a degree in that area. We compromised on Computer Science. BULLET. DODGED.
I'm a bit sorrowful I'm not working at my passion, but I'm pretty young and for all I know being a game designer would have made me miserable. Traveling the world, living comfortably, and putting away a lot of money as a computer programmer is not something I'm about to complain about.
2. The people giving these people toxic loans for degrees that have no chance of every paying off.
They have essentially created a servant class that has to pay a large % of their monthly take-home to a parasitic student loan company. Instead of taking risks, buying houses and cars, and getting more useful education, they are doing data entry.
The best minds of my generation are doing data entry and working at call centers.
3. The Universities themselves. How is it at all ethical to allow students to go through a 4 year program, charge them 100k for the effort, and then turn them out on the streets to suffer for years and years?
I remember in my non-major classes in college, the attitude of other students with worthless degrees and professors who teach them was: Don't talk about it. Don't think about it, just keep going. Which is bullshit. Talk about it. Tell the students what they are getting into.
4. The government for passing legislation making the discharge of student debt in bankruptcy nearly impossible.
When people talk about the inflation of the cost of a university degree I never see as the number one cause for it being the no risk loans to people who have no money sense (17 year olds) that pour money into the system.
Bankruptcy is a vital check valve on financial systems as well as an essential safety net to allow risk taking, even if that risk taking is pursuing a worthless degree.
I was lucky, in that I knew I could only afford in state tuition at a university where I could live at home. I used to laugh at some of my high school peers who were going off to really expensive liberal arts colleges. I still think it was foolish for most of them, but now that I'm older I really hope the decisions didn't cripple them financially.
Alternatively, the best minds of your generation are doing none of those things because they didn't fall into the trap. Don't assume the loudest people speak for everyone.
The author acknowledges this. It’s akin to the American dream. I think getting the word out with pieces like this is a good step in the right direction.
There are some people who don't pay the loans at all and take the credit hit and find their tax refunds taken. The interesting thing is that the refund directly reduces the principal and is not applied to the interest. For some people that seems to be a reasonable mitigation. I could be misremembering the details here though.
The other thing is that people need to vote. Vote for politicians who will reform student loans.
Makes me shutter now to think I was considering out of state $40-50k per year universities. I was 17 years old and in my undeveloped head I was really thinking it would be worth it..
