School loans can seem like a good idea on the surface – they allow you to go to school without working a job, focus on your studies, and usually have a low interest rate which often doesn’t kick in till after you’ve graduated. But frequently the math just doesn’t add up.
Sometimes, students take out loans without thinking about the fact that they will, eventually, have to pay them back! College loans are bad in the same way living on credit is bad: it may seem like a good idea at the time, but it’s impossible to know what the future holds and if you’ll be in a better position to repay the loans in a few years than you are now.
Calculated Risk
That’s not to say there aren’t any scenarios in which using loans to finance your education is an ok option. When seriously considering taking out school loans, it’s crucial that you objectively weigh the potential outcomes of the decision. For example, what will your earning power be with your desired degree? There’s no way of knowing for sure what job you’ll get – or that you’ll get a job right out of college – but some industries will automatically pay better than others. Getting loans for an education that won’t pay well once you’re done with school is not usually a wise choice.
Another scenario is to consider the school you’ll be attending. Some schools – like Ivy Leagues or some private schools – carry a high price tag but also provide their graduates with high job placement rates, high earning potential, and a network of people to help them through their career. In these situations the benefits of such an education may outweigh the risks or detriments of taking out loans.
Put Yourself Through School
If you won’t be getting any help from your family, and it’s up to you to foot the bill for college be sure to exhaust all your options before looking to loans. There are a plethora of scholarships out there – check with governmental and local organizations to see what you can qualify for. Also look at Fastweb.com for a list of smaller and sometimes obscure scholarships that are worth entering. Your high school and college should also be a good resource for finding scholarships.
Working to put yourself though school isn’t fun, but it can be done. There are the “typical” college jobs like bartender or barista but also check into jobs that provide a higher return both money-wise and career-wise. It’s possible to get a jump start on building your resume while still in college – jobs in professional fields typically pay more plus they can give you the experience you need to get a leg up when job hunting after college. Looking for jobs within your school is a good place to start to ensure that they’ll be able to accommodate your school schedule. Positions like marketing assistant, research assistant, lab assistants and so forth may be available on your campus.
And there’s also the option to work as a self-employed contractor. If you want to beef up your writing portfolio, look for freelance writing gigs. Fields like web development, graphic design, fact checking and research are also other areas that can be a good fit for a student. Craigslist is a valuable source for this type of work, but again use all the resources that your school provides.
Getting through school debt-free may require a bit of creativity but it’s a very viable option and you’ll have much more to look forward to once you’re done besides paying down school loans!
As a student who has worked four jobs equally between 25 and 40 hours a week for almost all of college, it is possible and it does give you a HUGE leg up on other students, you get great at time management and it fills out your resume really nicely.
Another thing to consider is also what kind of career you are going into. I’m going into natural resources, which doesn’t have a huge starting salary and few people ever get rich in it, so loans don’t make sense for me at all, perhaps if you are going into a field where making a lot of money right off is more certain it would make more sense, but even then you need to know how to live within a budget so you don’t spend all the income and start putting down money towards your loans….
I am in agreement with Avanderlaar. In the end it comes down to a cost/benefit analysis that many college-aged students may not be prepared to conduct (I know I wasn’t). (Un)fortunately for me, I had the (mis)fortune of attending schools where the tuition was out of balance with the prestige of the program I was in. Working through school barely put a dent in tuition, let alone living expenses. In this day and age, I recommend a whole-hearted look at what exactly you are pursuing – will it be worth fronting all that tuition money? Would you still enjoy doing it if it took you twice as long to graduate in order to afford it? Supplementing your half-time education with actual experience seems to be the best way to stay afloat and actually find a job these days.
Choosing to amass lots of loans means you’ve chosen your career in advance … whether or not you know it. You can’t choose a career that’s not high-dollar. Freedom from loans means freedom of choice.
Going to college is not about getting a job, it is a golden opportunity to shape, form you, as a person, it enriches your life,provides you with an enormous freedom, it is an incomparable experience, and I am not talking about the parties and what not, I am talking about university staff willing to share their knowledge with you, it is like reading a book where you can find answers to the questions you have. I remember most of my professors, certain things they said to me, I will never forget my years in college, it was hard work, lonely at times, but I do not regret any of it. My husband didn’t get they chance and it is one of his greatest regrets. If you can’t afford it, then that is most unfortunate, but if you can, go, at least try it, you can still drop out and go to work.