financial aid

[josephadel_3]

I am currently in a dilemma. I have 3500 in federal loans for the year to go to USM at in-state tuition rate as well as a 1200 dollar grant. This leaves me 2300 to pay total for both semesters. I am having trouble deciding on whether I should work my ass off this summer and save enough to pay for school and do it this way every year; or if I should take out another loan and save continuously? If I saved I would be very strict and regimented, spending very little.

My question is: Which is the wiser decision? Saving would allow me to save with interest and pay back my debt almost immediately, but paying more frequently would accumulate less interest on the private loans of about 2000 I would take out each year.

I made a pros and cons list and it came out even. What do you think?

 

[Zippyjuan]

From a purely economical standpoint, if the money you earn can be invested at a higher rate than you are paying on the loan, then you are better off investing the money. If you cannot get a guaranteed rate of return higher than your loan rate then you are better paying off the debt as soon as you can. I prefer to avoid debt (except for maybe buying a home) and would encourage you to work if you can.

 

[AutoDas]

Why not do half of both?

 

[LiveFree79]

I think you should get into drug dealing. CIA has used it for decades to avoid Congress and fund their covert operations. LMAO!

$1200 grant.....pathetic. Be lucky you have a grant. I couldn't get shit for school.......but I'm a middle class white boy and my parents made just enough money to make me ineligible but obviously not enough to put me through school. But my American born english speaking hispanic roommate got $2K every semester because his grandma spoke spanish so he was considered a "hispanic". Only in America do you have to go in debt to get an education. But I wised up shortly after my first year and did the community college route. I suggest that route for anyone for the first two years of higher learning.

 

[rockandrollsouls]

I think you should get into drug dealing. CIA has used it for decades to avoid Congress and fund their covert operations. LMAO!

$1200 grant.....pathetic. Be lucky you have a grant. I couldn't get shit for school.......but I'm a middle class white boy and my parents made just enough money to make me ineligible but obviously not enough to put me through school. But my American born english speaking hispanic roommate got $2K every semester because his grandma spoke spanish so he was considered a "hispanic". Only in America do you have to go in debt to get an education. But I wised up shortly after my first year and did the community college route. I suggest that route for anyone for the first two years of higher learning.

Amen. Community college for accounting right here . Funny thing is, I had some great professors and I learned a ton, meanwhile friends that went off to college came home dumb as rocks or with empty pockets

 

[OptionsTrader]

I applied for scholarships and worked through college. It can be done, but it is hard.

 

[jkm1864]

College doesn't do crap .... Do not fall for that myth because most of the jobs that college supposedly promises You are not available due to competition. I would say goto a trade school to learn Welding, Carpentry, Plumbing, or any other job that frowned down up in our society. You have to realize everyone is going to school to get plush office jobs while most people don't care about skilled manual labor. I see the trend in my town and its funny how welders, carpenters, & plumbers can make just as much money as office personel or college graduates. I make roughly 100k a year for my job with very little education in a area that the rough family income is 40k so my family makes 3X that. I just do a job no one else really wants to do and thats my secret. Oh another point merchant marines make a ton of money btw because no one wants to be a sailor. I know alot of captains making $400 - $800 dollars a day. The reason is no one is skilled enough to do it and no one wants to work away from home. The best part is You can get a schedule and live in California but work in Louisiana.

 

[LiveFree79]

College doesn't do crap .... Do not fall for that myth because most of the jobs that college supposedly promises You are not available due to competition. I would say goto a trade school to learn Welding, Carpentry, Plumbing, or any other job that frowned down up in our society. You have to realize everyone is going to school to get plush office jobs while most people don't care about skilled manual labor. I see the trend in my town and its funny how welders, carpenters, & plumbers can make just as much money as office personel or college graduates. I make roughly 100k a year for my job with very little education in a area that the rough family income is 40k so my family makes 3X that. I just do a job no one else really wants to do and thats my secret. Oh another point merchant marines make a ton of money btw because no one wants to be a sailor. I know alot of captains making $400 - $800 dollars a day. The reason is no one is skilled enough to do it and no one wants to work away from home. The best part is You can get a schedule and live in California but work in Louisiana.

Well college is not, or atleast didn't used to be, about making money soley. It used to be about learning and growing as a person. Becoming a more informed member of society. Having a College degree also says a lot to a prospective employer. It tells them that you can follow through with goals, achieve something etc. I agree with your sentiment. Unfortunately a bachelor's degree is becoming a high school diploma for U.S. workers. In many fields if you don't have a masters degree you can't even work in your respective field. I'm a RN. I make well above average for a new grad. Again, I do a job no one else wants to do. Atleast not males. It's a tough job and I still feel I'm underpaid. But I'm thankful. My profession is fairly recession proof compared to most jobs. Ten years ago nurses didn't make anything near what they make today. And I can honestly say one reason I went into it was for the money and job security. Ten years ago I would have laughed if someone told me I'd be doing what I do now for $35K a year. I make twice that and just graduated a year ago.

 

[jkm1864]

I made 30K a year my first year in the oil and gas industry with just computer experience. I now make around 100k a year just to sit offshore and play video games with occasional work. I love my job and it has no stress whatsoever after You get past the part of spending most of You're time away from You're family. I work in a real good field and the majority of the industry will retire in 10 years and this was even on MSN. I do not know if my job is recession proof but as long as oil is needed I will be able to support my family. I would say it takes a special person to work offshore but it has its incentives. The problems with working on land is people are always standing around You and watching You do You're job. They have to many chiefs and not enough indians in the work force. The offshore atmosphere is different because if You're job is to scrub toilets thats all You do is scrub toilets and You can not do anything else because if You get hurt doing something else You just won the lottery. Safety is a massive concern so everyone works at a slow and steady pace because every action has to be planed precisely because You are working with heavy items that can squash You in a heart beat if something goes wrong.... I am just saying do not believe the myth about college because most of the professions or majors do not = a job. The medical industry on the other hand is a no brainer because that will always be needed and also not everyone can cut the mustard.

Another point if the economy goes to crap You might want to have a skill that is needed and You can trade for other skills in a barter type system.

 

[OptionsTrader]

And offshore jobs do not require the correct usage of your and you're. A big plus!

 

[angelatc]

I applied for scholarships and worked through college. It can be done, but it is hard.

Me too. Took me longer than 4 years, but I paid cash all the way through. About halfway through, I got a job with a company that reimbursed tuition so that helped.

 

[josephadel_3]

I think you should get into drug dealing. CIA has used it for decades to avoid Congress and fund their covert operations. LMAO!

$1200 grant.....pathetic. Be lucky you have a grant. I couldn't get shit fof myr school.......but I'm a middle class white boy and my parents made just enough money to make me ineligible but obviously not enough to put me through school. But my American born english speaking hispanic roommate got $2K every semester because his grandma spoke spanish so he was considered a "hispanic". Only in America do you have to go in debt to get an education. But I wised up shortly after my first year and did the community college route. I suggest that route for anyone for the first two years of higher learning.

I already did most of my general education courses at a community college. It was extremely unchallenging except for the Mathematics courses, which weren'tmy strong points. Nevertheless, I managed to get B's in my Math courses. I put in maybe half the effort that I did in high school (college prepatory) and came away with a 3.5+ GPA. I had a 3.0 in high school. I actually got a 100 in my psychology class. Never in my life had that happened.

 

[icon124]

I got scholarships and worked my way through college. Went to a community college for two years and then transfered.

Yes college degrees (for the most part...some are worth it) are worthless, but the experience was amazing. I'm doing my last semester, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[josephadel_3]

College doesn't do crap .... Do not fall for that myth because most of the jobs that college supposedly promises You are not available due to competition. I would say goto a trade school to learn Welding, Carpentry, Plumbing, or any other job that frowned down up in our society. You have to realize everyone is going to school to get plush office jobs while most people don't care about skilled manual labor. I see the trend in my town and its funny how welders, carpenters, & plumbers can make just as much money as office personel or college graduates. I make roughly 100k a year for my job with very little education in a area that the rough family income is 40k so my family makes 3X that. I just do a job no one else really wants to do and thats my secret. Oh another point merchant marines make a ton of money btw because no one wants to be a sailor. I know alot of captains making $400 - $800 dollars a day. The reason is no one is skilled enough to do it and no one wants to work away from home. The best part is You can get a schedule and live in California but work in Louisiana.

I'm not going to college to get a job. I'm studying English with a concentration in creative writing. I may get a Master's at some point. I am already aware of the competition, and the grimness of the job market. I would like to be a copywriter, but like you said, it's very competitive. At one point in my life, I wanted to be a paramedic. I'm already a registered and licensed EMT. However, I was too young to drive. I may take that route after college. I also thought about being a fisherman, although I know it's extremely hard work.

One of my biggest pet peeves is people viewing college as sole career preparation. It's usually a result of it, but not it's only purpose.
I've decided to pay as much as I can and only take out loans when I need to. I guess I'm doing a little of both, like a previous poster suggested.

 

[bambbrose]

Those who say college is worthless either haven't gone to college or they are talking to people who go to college for worthless degrees like psychology, biology, humanities and social science.

If you go to college for a useful degree it'll pay for itself 10x. Degrees like engineering, physics (aka modern engineering), computer science, etc..

I just graduated, and had job offers flowing in like crazy, and signed on for 80K a year at a nuclear power plant. My fiancee just finished her masters in environmental engineering and shes doing better than I am.

Most people who go to school for USEFUL degrees actually get great jobs, it's all those social science and pointless degrees that land you 35k a year jobs that make college education look bad.

 

[LiveFree79]

Those who say college is worthless either haven't gone to college or they are talking to people who go to college for worthless degrees like psychology, biology, humanities and social science.

If you go to college for a useful degree it'll pay for itself 10x. Degrees like engineering, physics (aka modern engineering), computer science, etc..

I just graduated, and had job offers flowing in like crazy, and signed on for 80K a year at a nuclear power plant. My fiancee just finished her masters in environmental engineering and shes doing better than I am.

Most people who go to school for USEFUL degrees actually get great jobs, it's all those social science and pointless degrees that land you 35k a year jobs that make college education look bad.

No offense but it would be a pretty boring world if everyone was an engineer! I've got 3 in my family and just as many teachers. Teachers should make as much as engineers in my opinion. Plus engineering does not guarantee anything nowadays. You're very lucky. So is your wife. For every engineer that has landed a good job there are 3 or 4 that have had their job outsourced/insourced or have been laid off. Not flaming you, good for you but like I said college should be about becoming a well rounded person and doing what you love. Every college grad deserves to make more than $35K. You can't live on your own or pay your bills on much less than that and live a middle class lifestyle or the American dream so to speak which I think everyone who works hard in this country should be able to achieve.

 

[LiveFree79]

I already did most of my general education courses at a community college. It was extremely unchallenging except for the Mathematics courses, which weren'tmy strong points. Nevertheless, I managed to get B's in my Math courses. I put in maybe half the effort that I did in high school (college prepatory) and came away with a 3.5+ GPA. I had a 3.0 in high school. I actually got a 100 in my psychology class. Never in my life had that happened.

Well your first two years of college are usually pretty unchallenging and easy no matter where you go. I've studied at three major universities, U of Missouri, U of Colorado at Boulder to name a few. The education I got at my community college was just as good as at those schools and much more enjoyable as the classes were smaller and people were there because they had to be and wanted to learn. Can't say that's the case for everyone in a biology lecture filled with 200+ kids.

 

[Paul.Bearer.of.Injustice]

College is useful but it's way overpriced and is essentially a tax on the middle-to-upper-class.
It's also a nice way to create new debt slaves.
50 years ago people with high-school diplomas made just as much if not more(inflation adjusted) than today's 4-year graduates and didn't have to worry about the 10-100K debt.

 

[bambbrose]

No offense but it would be a pretty boring world if everyone was an engineer! I've got 3 in my family and just as many teachers. Teachers should make as much as engineers in my opinion. Plus engineering does not guarantee anything nowadays. You're very lucky. So is your wife. For every engineer that has landed a good job there are 3 or 4 that have had their job outsourced/insourced or have been laid off. Not flaming you, good for you but like I said college should be about becoming a well rounded person and doing what you love. Every college grad deserves to make more than $35K. You can't live on your own or pay your bills on much less than that and live a middle class lifestyle or the American dream so to speak which I think everyone who works hard in this country should be able to achieve.

None taken lol. Engineers are a requirement for society. Regardless of what you hear about outsourcing, the only engineers that get outsourced are mechanical and some structural. A lot of engineering is done on site and requires overhead of the project.

You must understand that we are not lucky at all (I hate it when people call it luck). We are hard workers. We made it through college without debt, with three very useful degrees. We got great jobs because we have great skills. Just because someone else went to school to become an engineer and they didn't land a job, doesn't mean that engineers have a hard time landing jobs. It means that that specific person doesn't have the skills necessary to land a job. There are plenty of engineers that are not smart or skilled, but instead only good students. It is those people who don't land jobs. The people with real world skills, good work ethic/experience, AND good degrees will never have trouble finding work or making money, good economy or not.

 

[rockandrollsouls]

College doesn't do crap .... Do not fall for that myth because most of the jobs that college supposedly promises You are not available due to competition. I would say goto a trade school to learn Welding, Carpentry, Plumbing, or any other job that frowned down up in our society. You have to realize everyone is going to school to get plush office jobs while most people don't care about skilled manual labor. I see the trend in my town and its funny how welders, carpenters, & plumbers can make just as much money as office personel or college graduates. I make roughly 100k a year for my job with very little education in a area that the rough family income is 40k so my family makes 3X that. I just do a job no one else really wants to do and thats my secret. Oh another point merchant marines make a ton of money btw because no one wants to be a sailor. I know alot of captains making $400 - $800 dollars a day. The reason is no one is skilled enough to do it and no one wants to work away from home. The best part is You can get a schedule and live in California but work in Louisiana.

I tend to agree that most of college is a giant scam. Might I ask what job you are doing to make 100k a year :o?