A Boring Dystopia
Pictures, Videos, Articles showing just how boring it is to live in a dystopic society, or with signs of a dystopic society.
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Could you explain to non-Americans what is the appeal of student loans if they can do this? Why shouldn't people go to cheaper schools to get their degrees instead? I mean no disrespect, if you are rich go to Yale or whatever, by all means.
Same as in the UK I imagine. No university is affordable. Unless you are rich, you can't go without a loan.
There are no cheaper schools. There are expensive ones and more expensive ones. There is literally no option for the non-rich except to go into debt or learn to be a plumber.
learning a trade should be more encouraged, you can make a shit ton of money (relatively) without the debt
I went to a really cheap school. My master’s was 40k.
40k? In USD or in Warhammer? Cause that's a shite ton of money for college.
What did you study btw?
Also, I am great full to live in a shit hole country right now given that bill
40kUSD is nothing compared to some STEM degrees - especially at the masters level. PhDs can often be funded and not cost the student though (only in lost time...and mental health...)
My bachelor was around 12k and if I did it faster it could have been cheaper. Wgu does it based on term not credit hour. The more courses you pass in a term the cheaper it is overall.
There was literally no way for my master’s to cost less, so I am not sure what your point is. It’s a minimum 2-year program. It’s how it’s designed. Not all degrees are like that, but in my case I paid the least amount possible already.
Letting you know there are cheaper schools depending on your degree
Literally picked the cheapest school I could find for my degree. Again, not sure what I could have done differently here.
there are no cheap schools in the US.
Oh, see - due to the lack of investment in education, the normalization of ever-increasing tuition rates, and the social/economic stratification of U.S. society there isn’t really a thing such as a ‘cheaper’ school.
My local commuter college wanted $25k a year for their masters program over a decade ago - and that’s after obtaining a 4 year degree. (Which I obtained through a combination of community college and undergrad classes at the same university, but not without incurring about $20k worth of debt for the previous 4 years.)
Add to that, the U.S. doesn’t have the economy or social supports. You either earn a living wage, find something workable through familial support, or go hungry. The U.S., mandates that companies pay less than half of what is needed to support one’s self.
This isn’t like, poor planning, or governmental stupidity. This is actually on purpose by conservatives in the U.S. government. (Sorry, that site is kinda weird, but it has the quote I was looking for.)
Nevermind that an educated populous is a matter of national defense/national security and having the brainpower to propel the country forward is one of the ways that the U.S. dominated on the world stage in the latter half of the last century. (In addition to timely and fortuitous control of a lot of resources, and a shitload of foreign meddling - lets be real here.) But whatevz, who needs that when the voters disagree with you? The people who set this in motion will be dead by the time the people that are going to be utterly fucked by that figure it out. (perhaps slowed in that realization by their faulty education. Hah.).
Children are told that they MUST go to college to get a stable and high paying job. This is so prevalent that college degrees are just seen as “the next step after high school” and nobody questions it. These colleges have figured out they can charge almost anything because they are seen as the gate keepers to high paying and stable jobs. So banking on future earnings, bearly emancipated teenagers, with the absolute minimum of a financial education, make life decisions that will put them in debt for the next 20-30 years.
The problem with the whole system is there doesn’t appear to be enough high paying and stable jobs.
As far as going to a cheaper college, I think you identified the issue in your very own comment. Schools have different prestige levels. Yale, for example, is a high prestige school and not only are you paying for an education, you are also paying to connect to rich people. These connections can be worth a lot of money if they are used correctly. So going to a cheaper college also means less valuable connections.
So, basically, as a regular (not rich) young person, you are aiming for a higher chance to connect with rich people in order to get a job/business that will probably get you enough money to cash on the "investment" made by getting an otherwise potentially for-life debt? Huh, rings a bell here. Thank you.
Even beyond connections, just the sticker on a resumé that says "" means you're less likely to get shunted into the shitter with 95% of other applicants, if you don't already have an "in" that cuts past the resumé stage.
Is this an intuition, or is it a known fact? Why would people do this? Do universities teach people to discriminate this way? Where do employers get these ideas? Is it something that permeates the whole society, or is it focused to applicant selection? Sorry for the many questions, I appreciate your response.
As a Millennial (and now an adult), I will preface that I'm out of touch with the youths, so I don't know their perspective on colleges now. But it is common societal idea in the US. No company will openly put out notice that they are discriminating but the prestige US schools are more rigorous in their application screening and get more money, and so are expected to have more rigorous curricula/standards and better teaching. It has shifted so that non-Ivy League schools were becoming recognized in their fields for various subjects. But that just adds them to the "Prestige" category for those in the know.
When people look at a resume, it's sorted into "Prestige" and every other university. And prestige will take your further.
Hilariously, as America progresses further into the dark ages, these "prestige" schools are increasingly becoming known for being degree mills who will sell a degree to any idiot with fat enough pockets to ask for one. Take the Trumps' history at Wharton for instance.
It probably always was. It's just that before rich people used to think being intelligent was a thing worth pursuing. The idea that you needed to be well-read and experienced to lead people.
UBI is a much better policy that "subsidizing loans just for college". It helps all young people more than old, letting them choose a future that is best for them, while stiill making college an affordable choice. It makes college pricing more competitive, instead of trapping people too young and foolish into a path they can't know enough to be a trap.
That's one of only good things about Florida. The colleges on average are significantly cheaper than anywhere else, and Florida is still ranked number 1 on US News for college education when looking at every single college combined.
So basically get a good affordable education and then move the fuck out of Florida.
SLABs will tank, someone's collateral gonna get busted
SLAB?
Student Loan Asset-Backed Securities
Basically, people can buy the rights to your loan payments. Maybe they get packaged together with many others' debts.
SLABSs are quite profitable, obviously. During COVID years there was a freeze on debt payments and holders of SLABS started to feel the squeeze. SLABSs are such a guaranteed return that people/banks/hedge funds can use them as collateral for loans and stuff. So during COVID, SLABSs became a liability. Or so it's been speculated
If people start defaulting on their debts, SLABSs could be centrally involved in a financial collapse, the first domino to start chain reaction of margin calls
Can't recall an education
With no DOE employees to process defaults?
Nobody should be paying a red cent.
If your choice is draining your entire bank account to the point you can't afford to live or suffering a credit score penalty, then the credit score should be sacrificed.
"but they can..."
Stop. Nothing they can do is worse than starving. Don't pay them. Use your money for your own needs.
Try getting an apartment or renewing a lease with a truly shit credit score.
Oops, you don't qualify anymore, anywhere, your options are now homelessness, much more expensive hopping between motels every 3 weeks, or live in your car, hope you're still making those payments.
Fairly difficult to cost-effectively cook and store food when you're in any of those situations.
Doesn’t that sort of depend on your loan, though? Like if you have one that’s serviced by a loan provider, doesn’t that provider deal with it if you default?
Or is it that the provider requires the DOE to process the default?
I wish more people understood no one can stop you if there is no one to stop you.