The Avoidable Curse of Student Loans

My middle daughter came home in the 9^th grade, crying because her teacher was unhappy with her. Why was the teacher unhappy? Because my 14-year-old daughter did not know what she what she planned to major in when she went to college. What the heck? I was (at the time) 38-years-old and didn't know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. How on earth is a 14-year-old supposed to know that?

Three years later she came home angry (progress, I think) because her counselor was pushing her towards a $38,000 a year college, rather than the $11,000 a year college that she had chosen. Because she felt that her counselor was not terribly bright, she did the math for him. The $38,000 a year college had offered her an $18,000 a year scholarship, which was lovely but would still leave her with a bill of $20,000 a year, and thus a debt of $80,000 when she walked out of those hallowed halls. The college she had chosen, on the other hand, had offered her a mere $5,000 a year scholarship. But given the much cheaper tuition, this would leave her walking out of school with a mere $24,000 in debt. In the end, the counselor was disgruntled, and my daughter was flat-out pissed.

"Is he going to pay that bill for me?" she demanded.

I, being the wise mother that I am, hesitantly offered the opinion that he would not, in all probability, pay her student loan debt.

"Of course he's not!" she fumed. "So why does he think he has the right to push me towards an education that is going to leave me $56,000 further in debt?!"

"I do not know," I replied, and then sat back to listen to my intelligent, responsible daughter vent.

"Then he had the nerve to suggest that you and dad get a second mortgage on the house to help me pay for it! I reminded him that I had two sisters, and that you don't make a lot of money. He said that it would be a good investment for you!"