How To Avoid Graduating College Summa Cum Debt

Pamela Yellen over at the Huffington Post gives advice on How to Avoid Graduating College Summa Cum Debt. I’ve read dozens of articles on this topic over the years and none have irked me and impressed me with their proposals and solutions the way Yellen’s article has.

Her main piece of advice is to flat out not head off to college at all “unless or until you can afford it.” Not the standard higher education version of the American Dream. Usually everyone’s telling young adults to do whatever they and their parents can in order to acquire a college diploma, regardless of how many decades beyond graduation both parties will be swimming in debt.

Whether you agree with her or not, it’s interesting stuff to think about:

Four Paths to a Debt-Free College Education
1. Save it first.
2. Postpone it.
3. Do it smarter.
4. Skip it altogether.

Further Reading:

Ways to Kick the Ass of Student Loan Debt
Number-Crunching the Effects of Student Loans
Adventures in Education: Paying for College
The Economy and Higher Education
No One Likes a Recession
Calculating Potential
Investing in Students’ Futures
Extremely Useful Guidance for the Newly Salaried
Fall 2011 Facebook App for Financial Aid
College Grads and Student Loan Debt
Arne Duncan: Direct Student Loans
Increased Tuition Increases Some More

Posted by Alexa Harrington

2011
11/02
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Michelle Obama Supports Girls in STEM Majors and Careers

The unfortunate phenomenon of elementary-aged girls becoming interested in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) subjects, going off to college intending to major in and then pursue a career in one of those fields, and ultimately veering off somewhat sharply into less science-and-math rich majors and careers is common.

Fortunately, it has not gone unnoticed by the chicks who have gone on to work in their dream STEM fields, and several entities have started working to foster girls’ education and career paths in STEM subjects.

Michelle Obama, not a STEM girl herself (what with being a lawyer and all), is all for supporting girls in math and science and gave a little talk about it recently. My favorite bits from the transcript:

And if we’re going to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world, then we have to open doors to everyone. We can’t afford to leave anyone out. We need all hands on deck. And that means clearing hurdles for women and girls as they navigate careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

And it starts with lighting the spark for science and math in elementary school and grade school. We talk about this all the time. I know for me, I’m a lawyer because I was bad at these subjects. (Laughter.) All lawyers in the room, you know it’s true. We can’t add and subtract, so we argue. (Laughter.)

And so encouraging girls early not to lose heart in those fields, and encouraging them through high school is important. But it also means making sure that these young women can keep pursuing their dreams in college and beyond.

Further Reading:

Why So Few Women In Science, Technology, Engineering and Math?
Dual Academic Careers
First Lady Michelle Obama Speaks to the Dept. of Education

Posted by Alexa Harrington

2011
10/26
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Initial College Attendance of Low-Income Young Adults

The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) has a report out that shows the colleges low-income students head for first tend to be for-profit schools. That particular population is underrepresented in four-year public and private colleges, and overrepresented in the for-profit schools. All of which is not new, but it does mean fairness in higher education has still not been achieved.

From the brief:

INITIAL COLLEGE ATTENDANCE OF LOW-INCOME YOUNG ADULTS

More than 2.3 million low-income young adults began postsecondary education in 2008. Where these students initially enroll is of greater consequence than it is to their economically better-off peers because the likelihood of completing college for students from low-income backgrounds depends strongly on where they start their studies. This brief examines the types of postsecondary institutions where low- income young adults begin. Focusing on the starting point in low-income students’ postsecondary experiences will lead to later investigations of other key factors that influence their persistence and completion prospects, as well as labor market outcomes.

In the context of national completion goals, inducing more low-income young adults to participate in postsecondary education is deeply important. Yet enrollment data over the past decade indicate that certain types of institutions have seen their ranks swell substantially. While all sectors of higher education—two-year1 and four-year, private and public—are expected to bestow benefits upon their graduates, the types of institutions where low-income young adults are increasingly likely to enroll provide the least clear or certain educational and economic advantages (Bound, Lovenheim, and Turner 2010; IHEP 2002).

With these trends in mind, our analysis addresses two key questions:

What types of postsecondary institutions are low-income young adults first attending?

To what extent have the initial enrollment patterns of low-income young adults, especially females and certain racial/ethnic minorities, shifted over time, and to which types of postsecondary institutions?

Posted by Alexa Harrington

2011
10/21
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Tax Breaks for Higher Education

Forbes contributor Robert W. Wood gives advice about which forms of higher education qualify for tax breaks. Wood lists the following articles for even more information on how to get a break from the IRS for funding one’s higher education pursuits:

Ten Rules for Deducting Career Education
Who benefits from student loans and educational tax benefits?
Two Tax Credits for Higher Education
IRS Publication 970: Business Deduction for Work Related Education
IRS Tax Topic 513: Educational Expenses
Deductibility of Work Related Educational Expenses
IRS: Tax Incentives for Higher Education

Posted by Alexa Harrington

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2011
10/17
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Moving On After An Epic Fail

Along the lines of my previous post regarding the much abhorred Epic Fail, Emily Chapman at Hack College wrote a piece advising one to Refuse to Dwell, Move On, Kick Ass. Well put.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

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2011
10/17
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What Can I Do With A Major In…?

UC Berkeley has a cool page on their site that allows you to click on any of their given majors and get a write-up of what you can do with said major (i.e., grad school, job). It’s fun to check out everything from underwater basket weaving (poli sci, psych, philosophy, etc.) to bioengineering and see the possible trajectories, especially if your parents are demanding proof that a degree in philosophy will lead to a prosperous future. Good luck with that.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

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2011
09/30
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Epic Fails: Learn From Them and Move On

Oh, Epic Failure, how I despise you. The more massive you are, the deeper you are burned into my psyche. My head can’t forget no matter how much denial and bloody-kneed begging I shovel over you.

When I bear witness to the fails of others, I am slammed with the adrenaline force of two emotions battling it out in my chest: Empathy for the poor bastard, and blatant, raw relief that it wasn’t me. Seriously, every time I think about the Titanic I thank all that is holy that not only was it not my fault, but that I wasn’t even born yet so my alibi is rock solid and no one can ever pin that shit on me.

So far, I’ve not experienced a personal failure of Titanic proportions (fingers crossed I don’t decide to captain a ship through iceburg-y waters or become an engineer of constructs large enough to hold massive numbers of living things, all of whom would perish horribly should my awesome engineering math suck real bad).

Massive mistakes have been avoided, but plenty of small and medium fails loiter horizons of my past. Stupid rusting hulking things, just sitting there mocking me. God how I hate them.

The best way to smite those bitches down with my almighty fury? Learn all I can from them, then just let them go and move the hell on. Continuing to focus on past founderings keeps them good and shiny in your head and your heart, which allows them full access for continued cutting away at your awesomeness. Do not let those bastards grind you down.

Learn and go, people. Learn and go.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

2011
09/30
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Get Smart About Choosing A College

It turns out parents and students are less than rational when it comes to choosing institutions of higher learning for the prospective college student’s matriculation. Paying for the education venture twists everyone’s grey matter into knots as well. Let’s keep our heads in the game, people! Read this article in the Wall Street Journal: Get Smart About College.

From the article:

When weighing present obligations against future potential, it can help to take a step back. College is an investment but it’s a peculiarly intimate one; students are investing in themselves, parents in people they love. To get some perspective on the matter, families should look at choosing and paying for a college like starting a small business (You, Inc.). Would someone launch an enterprise without a line of credit? Or skimp on equipment and human capital to avoid cutting into short-term consumption?

Families should also think carefully about context when they’re making estimates of future earnings. Someone who graduates in four years is likely to have a shot at a much better first job than someone who graduates right now; many experts hope and expect the economy to look quite different by the time today’s high school students finish college.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

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2011
09/30
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Annual Buying Calendar for Broke-Ass College Students

Hello, frugal (read: cheap-ass and poor) college students! September, the month of the best laptop prices, is almost over. Buy it now if you’ll be needing one in the next year. Or you can pay attention for the particular laptop you want to become super cheap the week before the spankin’ new model hits the market.

If you’re a planner and would like to mark your calendar now for the next twelve months’ worth of strategic shopping, feel free to use the jelly-filled orbs in your sockets to scan WiseBread’s Buying Calendar. It’ll save you more money than those cinder-block shelves and eating all that ramen.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

2011
09/30
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