Thread: Student Loans

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it and understand completely what you are saying. I just base that number on the statistics from my school and offers of advancement in my present job. Right now the average starting pay of a person leaving my school with the degree that I am pursuing is around 59,000. 94% of our students are hired 3 months before graduation. Although, that number is down at the moment because of the economy.

I think the reason we do so well is because of the fact that we are in Chicago. There is a Huge Huge Huge technology based market here. I already work part time as a COBOL programmer (Work Study), and my company has several different development positions (C++, Java) for me to move into after graduation. So hopefully!! all my dreams will come true. I have worked so hard. Thanks again.

At least you are going into the situation with open eyes.

Statistics don't prove diddly squat. When I was going to Mortuary School, the college I went to had a 98% passing rate for the National Boards (the FINAL exam before you become provisionally licensed as a Funeral Director/Embalmer). Well, they plumetted WAY down when I graduated. I was one of 7 who passed the National Boards on the first try (out of approx. 60 people).

Hope everything works out for you though

^


I'm no stinking guest!

Why shouldn't you pay back 100% of your student loans? I know I don't want to pay your loans with my taxes.

I'd advise against student loans altogether - they're just trouble. That's why I moved to America* - I haven't heard that word since I left New Zealand.

* Not really - but I love being molodramatic.

Student loans are very usefull, i certainly use them as does everyone i know. You get them interest free, and you get to pay them back over a very long length of time.

If you can do w/o them thats great, but if you can't then they're there for ya.

As far as I knew, the loans require you to pay interest, but not until after you finish school. At least that's what it is like here in Canada.

Fountain they are interest free, they aren't INFLATION free.

Meaning if you borow £1000, you pay back £1000 + inflation, which means you pay back in "worth" exactly what you borrowed, W/O any added interest.

And you do have ages, absolutely ages to pay the loan back. How fast yoiu have to pay it back depends on your salary.

It's a good system.

The point being that the grant system was IMPOSSIBLE to maintain, because the number of people applying to higher education was increasing drastically. Grants were ok when only a few people went on to Uni, but in todays day an age they are not a solution. The government simply does not have enough money to completely fund higher education, that is why loans were introduced, it is also why even WITH loans British universities are chronically under-funded and as a result slipping behind their US counterparts.

Inevitably, fees are going to be INCREASED, there is no other way, it's going to happen. We will convert to a US style system. Of course it will gradual, but it will happen.

So inflation is measured by the consumer price index. How does it all work again.

There are a number of reasons why they raise or lower taxes. Nobody loans money out for free, especially the government. I don't know what the figures are for student loan interest payments, however I don't think they are very low.

But the point is it's just inflation, not added interest, so like i said you pay back in "worth" exactly what you borrow. When you borrow from banks, you pay interest far larger than the rate of inflation, hence you pay back more in "worth" than you borrow.

The government makes no profit on student loans, but it saves money using them, rather than grants.

That might be true in the USA but I think that in Canada the government makes a good sized profit on student loans.

Interest and inflation are different things. While infation has to do with the purchasing power of money compared to some standard bread basket of goods, interest is a constant rate that affects your debt. If you don't reduce the debt quickly than you will end up paying more due to interest on a larger sum. I don't know how they can maintain that amount with inflation when it is the creditor that controlls how much he has to pay, unless the debt payment is amortized.