25 years old and deep in debt

[CountDeMoney]

So I'm reading the Cincinnati paper, to see what their take was on tonight's FlaccoRape, and I trip over this "My Experience" piece.

I sooo want to hear what Languish has to say about this one.

25 and deep in debt
MY EXPERIENCE

I am honored to be a daughter of Cincinnati and am humbled to have grown up in such a wonderful community. I attended St. Margaret of York grade school and then matriculated from the reputable Ursuline Academy. After high school, I earned degrees from Miami and Xavier universities. Because of my local education, Cincinnati is more than my hometown – she is the mother who raised me into the woman I am now. I am Cincinnati.

My pursuit in excellent education is rooted in a value system that promotes progressive thought for the betterment of the individual as well as society. Education is a core tenet and vested interest of the functioning democratic society. Upon that basic assumption and principle, I am overwhelmingly incensed by the silent epidemic of crippling student debt.

At 25 years old, I have $188,307.22 in student debt, all of which is my sole financial responsibility.

That exorbitant number was abetted by easy lending with a co-signer, negligence and lack of awareness, over-borrowing and the exponential growth of tuition.

I work both a full-time and part-time job, and abide by a strict budget. Yet, I still sleep in my parent's basement and am dependent for food, gas and health insurance.

I am told I am not alone.

However, this particularly sensitive conversation is being ignored by our mainstream consciousness. Perhaps I should be ashamed for buying such an unaffordable education and internalize my debts as personal failures. Perhaps my mistakes warrant pained silence. But silence breeds apathy, and in regard to the welfare of the American economy, I want to humanize the numbers and give voice to this reprehensible problem.

Due to reckless neglect, student debt will be the financial ruin of my generation, and there is an incredible need for a public discourse addressing this reality and its grave consequences.

I want answers and clarity as to why this happened. How did I arrive at this position in life so financially handicapped and disenfranchised? I followed societal expectations, earned an education and am employed. I will gladly repay my debts within the comfortable reason of affordability. Yet, my wants and needs are disproportionate, and I can barely afford a PB&J sandwich, let alone the peace of mind to sleep at night.

There is great irony in pursuing freedom through education only to be shackled by crushing debt. My current financial situation prohibits any fantasies of owning a home, getting married or starting a family.

My future and dreams are six feet under, and I am still digging my grave. I want to fight and reclaim my American and Cincinnatian identity, even if the only thing I can afford is the sound of my voice and tears.

I am owed answers simply because I have the right to pursue happiness. And since I am not alone in this debilitating epidemic, my peers deserve their voice as well.

Oh, and the "comments" section is priceless.

[Eddie Teach]

Should have gone to public school. Jesus.

[Scipio]

Well, one thing I notice is that she can't be bothered to tell us what her degree is in.

Not that that matters.

She's owed answers?  Really?

Wow.

[Scipio]

I will say that I hope she uses birth control.  Because if I am any judge of humanity, her end of the gene pool is fucking shallow.

[Habbaku]

Well, one thing I notice is that she can't be bothered to tell us what her degree is in.

Creative Writing.

[Habbaku]

My current financial situation prohibits any fantasies of...getting married...

[garbon]

Maybe she shouldn't have gone to two universities?

That said, it definitely is terrible the amount of debt one can accumulate in one's 20s because of school...especially during a decade of life where people almost expect you to goof off.

[katmai]

Maybe she shouldn't have gone to two universities?

Damn Republican anti-intellectualism.

[garbon]

Maybe she shouldn't have gone to two universities?

Damn Republican anti-intellectualism.

Really though - taking loans enough for two degrees at non-elite universities that add up to nearly 200,000? Someone along the way should have stopped her or at least given her better advice.

[katmai]

Not all of us can be half Indian geniuses Garbon

[Scipio]

Maybe she shouldn't have gone to two universities?

Damn Republican anti-intellectualism.

Really though - taking loans enough for two degrees at non-elite universities that add up to nearly 200,000? Someone along the way should have stopped her or at least given her better advice.

She's a precious and unique snowflake.  Nobody tells her what to do.  After all, nobody puts baby in the corner.

[garbon]

Not all of us can be half Indian geniuses Garbon

That's why I was suggesting it wasn't all her fault as a late teen/early 20-something. Adults in her life (up to including said adults that authorized a loan) should have served her better and it is a shame that they didn't.

[Barrister]

Not all of us can be half Indian geniuses Garbon

That's why I was suggesting it wasn't all her fault as a late teen/early 20-something. Adults in her life (up to including said adults that authorized a loan) should have served her better and it is a shame that they didn't.

I dunno man.  I was pretty cautious about accumulating student debt, and graduated with maybe 5% of her debt (with two degrees!).  IT not exactlt rocket science to know that owing $200k is very, very bad.

[MadImmortalMan]

My current financial situation prohibits any fantasies of...getting married...

Her debt isn't her only problem in that particular regard. The piece has a pic...

[Ideologue]

Well, one thing I notice is that she can't be bothered to tell us what her degree is in.

Xavier?  Oh, I could hazard a guess.  And contrary to your collective gasping, if my hunch is right, it's not too far from the median debt.

Anyway, yeah, you can pile a lot of blame on recent grads' shoulders.  Hindsight being what it is, of course it was a bad idea to go to professional/graduate school for many.

So, it follows, of course, tbat it's 100% the hapless students' responsibility; lenders profiting off of government-guaranteed, nondischargeable, near-zero-risk loans on one hand and institutions engaged in naked fraud and the massive transfer of wealth based on lies and access to legally-sanctioned cartels, on the other, should bear absolutely none.

Or is your libertarian sense tingling?

Shit, dude, even I can admit that a pure free market would be better than the Soviet chandelier factories we've got instead of higher education; it's not my preferred solution, but despite my politics I still recognize that nothing can possibly be worse than what we have.  This is not, or should not be, a liberal weenie issue.  It's a market distortion of incredible magnitude, and a burgeoning catastrophe.