Student
loans are both a blessing and a curse to college students all across the
country. On one hand, student loans allow you to have the money you need in
many cases to attend college at all. On the other hand, most college students,
particularly those entering college for the first time have inflated opinions
of their starting salaries upon graduation and the bills they will face while
living in the real world. In fact, most freshmen college students have no real concept
of the limits of money in which to base their decisions as to whether or not
they can realistically expect to repay those funds once they've graduated
college.
The
sad truth is that many college graduates find that for the first 10-15 years
after they have graduated college, they are essentially indentured servants to
their student loan debts. There are many reasons for this and different college
graduates will find different things about their student loans when the
appropriate time comes. First of all, those taking out student loans need to
understand that a college degree does not guarantee a high starting salary.
Beyond that, a college degree is no guarantee that there will be employers
lining up to take your name and number upon graduation. The truth is that most
college grads take anywhere from 6 months to a year to find a job in their
fields and even then the starting salaries are often far less than anticipated.
Part
of the blame for over-inflated expectations is the fault of universities attempting
to validate their high tuition rates by displaying average starting salaries of
only those that have successful offers in the field of study immediately upon
graduation (which usually indicates a history of working with the company or
another company as an intern prior to being hired) and not those students who
have no prior work experience in their chosen fields. Part of the expectations
is students reading job advertisements for experienced workers in a field and
assuming that an education will provide the experience that employers require.
Regardless of the reason, most starting salary expectations are not realistic
in light of the current market.
The
problem is that for many students a student loan is the difference in receiving
a college education or not receiving one. For these students, there is no
option. The price they will pay (with interest) for having student loans in
order to get through the educational process will repay itself over the course
of a lifetime if they are wise about making the necessary payments and stay on
top of things such as consolidation loans and making payments on time.
Student
loans are a great tool for those who have no other options when it comes to
attending and affording to attend a university. On the other hand, for those
who do not have an absolute need for the funds a student loan can provide they
can prove to be problematic when trying to establish your career and your
lifestyle upon graduation. This is a tool for education that should be used
sparingly at best.
Whether
or not you choose to take out student loans in order to fund your college
education it is a good idea if you exhaust all other available resources first.
Check out your options for grants, scholarships, and work-study programs before
leaping into student loans to pay for your education.
