Southern Bread

I’ve said for a few years now that college tuition rates are obviously unsustainable. There has to be a crash at some point. Just like gas prices were unsustainable at $4+ per gallon and housing prices were unsustainable at $200,000 for a mediocre 3 bedroom/2 bath, college prices can’t continue at their current level. When the price of a college education takes 20-30 years to pay back, that’s not what I call a good investment decision. You could argue that a mortgage at least has a day to day function that it’s performing for you. Everybody has to live somewhere. Conversely, not everyone needs a $60,000 business degree. It’s just not worth it.

This recent article that my buddy sent me describes the beginnings of the coming breakdown in college prices:

The clock is ticking for Alisha Hull. She’s been looking furiously for a job since she graduated from Ball State University in May with a degree in microbiology.

But with the economy sagging and no real prospects in sight, the honors graduate soon will have to make that first payment on her $55,000 in student loans — or ask her lenders for a delay.
Advertisement

Hull, 23, is one of 1.4 million people who graduated from U.S. colleges in May. More than half of them are being dumped into a bad economy loaded down with debt — a total obligation estimated at $32.5 billion. It’s the largest debt ever recorded for a nation of college graduates, and some economists and student advocates say it could hamper not only the buying power of young families struggling to set up households but also an economy struggling to shake off a recession.

–Dana Hunsinger, Indy Star

College has become 13th grade. For many, many young people, it’s a way to get out from under the supervision of their parents without having to actually take responsibility for anything yet. And when you throw in fraternity nonsense it just makes it even more so. Either parents get stuck with the bill for this 5 year party or the college grad finances most of it and comes out absolutely loaded with debt. But, don’t expect to hear the straight truth about all this in the media or from the college establishment. They are going to continue to try and force-feed us the notion that college is worth it for everybody. It’s not:

Andrea Barner, 32, won’t be getting a mortgage any time soon. After being laid off in April as a supervisor of caregivers, she has fallen behind on her $500-a-month payments.

Barner, who is single with a 10-year-old daughter, said she lives with a friend and pays rent, but the looming debt issue hangs over her every day.

“I went to school trying to do the right thing — so I could get a good job,” she said. “Now I wonder about it all.”

–Dana Hunsinger, Indy Star

It’s time to get back to the old way of doing things. Apprenticing. I’ve got a better idea for those non-professionals seeking entry into the job market. Do not waste your money on college. Instead, go out and take that few thousand dollars you have and use it to finance a low-wage or even no-wage internship doing something that you are interested in. Do you like electronics? Go and offer to work at a local electronics or computer repair shop for 60 days for minimum wage or even for free just to learn the ropes. Think insurance is a good career? Get in touch with a successful local insurance agent and offer to work for free for a few months in exchange for being taught hands on by someone who’s good at it.

The bottom line is that I know so many people with college degrees who work in fields that are totally unrelated to their degree. If you are willing to work your butt off for someone in exchange for being taught, they will reward you. Unless you’re planning to be a professor, lawyer, doctor or accountant, college is NOT mandatory. All that’s mandatory is hard work and a good work ethic.