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A hands on education trumps a classroom education every time. A college degree will open some doors that remain closed if you don’t have one. Short of that, one is not needed for much else.

My pops went to VCU Virginia tech and Lynchburg college and was a doctor at one time no schit.He had a mid life crises and said fuqk it got tired of living in Richmond😃

Exactly!

Enlisting in the military is an opportunity to mature a little, earn a little money, and learn a skill if you're in a technical MOS. By the end of that first enlistment, a young man or woman should have a better idea what they want to do in life.

When I graduated from high school I was sure that I wanted to be a soldier, but after 7 years I knew that the deck was stacked against me 'cause no matter what I did, I would never be a USMA graduate. When I got out, I knew that I didn't want to teach, so I went back to school at age 29 and earned an MBA.

I left undergrad with $15 k in student loans daily because I did a semester in Jerusalem and couldn't work while in a nursing program because we did 24 hours of clinical a week and a full class load.

When I went to MBA school I signed a contract saying I wouldn't work while in school because it was every day from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm as part of a group. I lived in student loans and even with a 3/4 academic scholarship I still added another $50,000 in student loans. I paid about 85% back the first 5 years working because every bonus I got I put 100% towards loans.

My loans were before Obama nationalized them all so I got some good incentives for paying on time. My last $10k got to were the interest was only 5/8ths of a percent fixed. Yes, less than 1 % so I just paid the minimum for years. I think the rates and programs were better before feds got involved. Some of my classmates that didn't have scholarships for MBA school left with $150k in loans so I didn't think I did too bad. Part of my grad school debt was spent do the summer in the middle bouncing around Asia fir an international business class.

Bb

I graduated high school at 17 and went to work. I would have quit high school, but my parents wouldn't allow it.

I believe loans should only go to students that are seeking degrees in high demand areas (Engineering, Medical Sciences, etc). You want a degree in Gender Studies and lesbian dance theory? Hand over the money up front. That would reduce the cost of college due to colleges only offering in demand degree fields. And the supply of useful idiots getting loans for a degree that qualifies them to be a barista for the rest of their life would dry up.

That’s actually a pretty good idea. Certain fields are in serious need of competent and intelligent people but the pool of candidates is too small. If loans and financial aid are skewed toward the needed fields instead of every idiotic cop-out excuse of a degree the repayment rate will skyrocket and we’ll have people in the fields (STEM, aviation, etc) of study that matter and will have a positive impact on our economy and our country!

Completely disagree. Go knock out the 60 core credits while it is fresh in your head right out of high school.

If you don’t know what you want to do after that go to work until you know that you want to major in.

True, but be careful Jim, you have just described about 75% of the K-12 teachers. Classic statement, What's your major, now your in your senior year? Oh, I don't know, just a couple more credits and I can get a teaching credential while I figure it out.

A kid can often get much of that first year credit while still in HS.

Yeah it's a little different now than when I was in school

Mine did. He’s getting out in 3 years.

When my two grandchildren were born I immediately opened 529's for each of them (two). Funds are transferred monthly from one of my Fidelity accounts to theirs. Should help a bunch when their time comes.

Absolutely agree! Going to community college and getting the 2 years of required classes out of the way while, like you said, it’s fresh is solid advice even if the student has no idea what they want to do in the future. Whether for the trades or for future college getting the prerequisites out of the way significantly reduces the barriers that might prevent one from furthering their education. It also doesn’t hurt to have a decent foundation of knowledge in the core areas like reading, writing, math and history….if for nothing else but for yourself.

My school of hard knocks was cheap, so of, if you don't count all my blunders.

I would like to see any “forgiveness scheme” be based on payments of employee matched by employer. Maybe with caps. Maybe not. But if my payment is $150 per month and I pay each payment on time then the employer, either out of pocket or through grants, matches payment for payment. If an employee squeezes a little into each payment forgiveness matches to an extent similar to 401k matching.

I had to make payments on time for 3 years and teach in a shortage area before I was eligible for any forgiveness applications.

I am opposed to forgiving huge blocks of loans for anyone that has sat around brown thumbing it for 5-6 years and hasn’t paid a dime.

Jackson Handy: I m an old fart, old school. Graduated Jr College in 1969, College in1971 with a draft number of 6. Worked a while at Baxter Labs till I found a job teaching. Joined the ARNG in 71 also, not a volunteer army at that time. Started teaching in 73 at a private school. Went into public school administration in 77 and started graduate school. Finished in 81. Got a rep for being a troubleshooter to remedy problem schools. Get the problem solved involves change. Change is wonderful, implementation is Hell especially in a district where the superintendent is elected. Superintendent usually hires relatives. Wore my welcome out and moved on. Also worked as school principal with Mississippi Band of Choctaw. Different ballgame and dynamics. I was a hands on guy with a strong work ethic gained from my truck driver/ beer joint bouncer Dad. I asked a school board president about my job description. His reply was, there’s 26 acres here and you responsible for everything that goes on on the 26 acres. I took this literally. Inspect what you expect. I would pull duty, help clean restrooms, drove bus routes, work on cafeteria serving line, teacher classes to give teachers restroom breaks, whatever.
I felt like I knew my students and the demographics very well. Very few administrators get out the office. I was not one of those. Lead by example and never ask anyone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.

Mine did too. There were quite a few AP classes and his HS had an agreement with the local community college. The end of this year (Junior) he's got enough credits to graduate, so he's starting on his masters while in his senior year.

They are called "dual enrollment" classes here. The savvy kids take them as they are free. The loan forgiveness bunch smokes weed and plays xbox all day.

Mine did as well though I told him to not use his calculus and physics credits. He followed my advice and thanked me for it after his first semester.