COLLEGE DEBT

                                                            COLLEGE DEBT

A lot has been said about the debt that graduates today have accumulated in college. Some of them are now graduating, six figures in debt and that’s not a good way to go out into the working world. When I think about it, I have often wondered if there shouldn’t be a course taught in high school, for graduating seniors, explaining what borrowing money can do to you and how it can be a run away freight train with accumulating debt and this can happen very quickly.

I think we have all been on a vacation and used a credit card to conveniently pay for things, then received the bill when we got back home and were astonished at how much money we had spent and now we had to pay for it. It can get away from you in a hurry and it can be that way, borrowing money for college too.

I have two granddaughters who both graduated from college a few years ago. Both of them are great girls who I am proud of. One of them worked hard, both at school and after school, trying to keep her debt to a minimum. She came out of school with only a small amount of debt. Her and her husband now have a home of their own and a baby and are doing quite well. The other girl, a victim of circumstances borrowed way too much money and now she too is married but any hope of buying a house and having a family, is hindered by student loans she has to pay back. Her monthly loan payments are equal to the mortgage payments they could be paying on a home. I know it is a contentious issue with her.

There was a time when parents started saving accounts for their kid’s education but that seems to be less of a habit, now that government loans are available, so the money goes elsewhere. To add to that there was a time when colleges didn’t charge the prices they now charge for a four-year degree. There was a time when fiscal responsibility was taught at home and so was foresight. Kids fought hard for scholarships and any way they could to pay for their education, because there was no easy money available. I remember my son-in-law pursuing his engineering degree in the daytime at the U and driving a courier van at night to pay his bills. Landscapers, resorts and golf courses could depend on college kids to work for them in the summer and there were more applicants then there were jobs. Now it’s just the opposite and business are struggling to find workers.

So now the cry goes out for loan forgiveness and free college education for everyone. It’s become a campaign issue and all of it in a country that is wallowing in debt of its own accord, with poor spending and borrowing habits. A county that has, for far to long, thought it could spend its way out of poverty but that’s a story for another day. Education is essential to the well being of this country. But so is responsibility. A few years back I had the good fortune to go to Key West Florida for a couple of days. Rooms were over four hundred dollars a night for lodging and not high-end lodging at that. The town was filled with students-- spring breakers-- who seemed to have lots of money and I know this-- they didn’t all have rich parents.