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Health & Fitness

BLOG: Ask the College Counselor—Are College Students Stupid?

When parents can't write a check for college, and justify taking out loans so their child can "explore"…the stupid apple doesn't seem to fall far from the stupid apple tree.

OK…time to rant…it is that time of year that parents come to us…wringing their hands…wanting to do “anything” so their little darling can go to their “dream school.” 

Parents…if you cannot write a check, do NOT allow a 17-year-old to spend your retirement…or get into debt. Of course, there are many families who choose the right schools where the degree is affordable and marketable…but most don’t choose the right colleges. 

When I see the lists of colleges every spring that kids are accepted to…I just KNOW that when the first tuition bill comes in June/July, many the parents will either be slapped in the face by the reality of the potential for financial ruin, or they will be turned down for loans, and slink away, suddenly being absent from the bunko games or coffee gatherings. That is when those huge wait lists start to open up.

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Here is the reality…unless you go for engineering, there are very few degrees that you can use at the undergraduate level. When parents can’t write a check for college, and justify taking out loans so their child can “explore”…the stupid apple doesn’t seem to fall far from the stupid apple tree. 

Want to be a teacher?…FINE! But to go to some out of state government school or a 60k/year private school and get into debt for a job that pays less than one years cost of attendance…is STUPID. 

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Want to go to college to learn to think critically, and major in something unmarketable? Again, GREAT! But if you have to take out loans to do so, you are short sighted and irresponsible. 

Please people…with only 14 percent of the available jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree, why are people in authority telling still everyone to go to college? When someone is unemployed, doesn’t common sense say “get a job?” But somehow, the masses have been indoctrinated to believe that going into debt to go to school to learn how to do something else is a smart thing to do..so then, not only will one be starting over, but will be in debt, with interest accruing to do so!

Debt erases options…A woman cannot stay at home with her children, because she is a debt slave.  A man cannot risk to be entrepreneurial, because he is a debt slave.  Proud parents go right from watching the college graduation ceremony to loading up the dorm room to move back home.  I am sickened by the sheer stupidity of getting into such massive debt. 

Employers are starting to look more and more at the debt load and credit rating of prospective employees. When someone is in huge debt, the pressure will cause them to compromise their character.

OK…done for now…

 

If you would like us to speak in your local high school, shoot us an e-mail, at support@getcollegefunding.org.

For free seminars, WEBinars, and useful tools to help guide the college planning process, please go to www.GetCollegeFunding.org, and sign up for our "10 Mistakes Most Parents Make When Planning For College".

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