Degrees Go to Die- Financial Issues
Financial Issues are THE single greatest challenge to a student trying to earn a degree today. It is especially true for any student with very limited resources or little family financial backing.
Where do I begin with what is wrong? I’ll start with the current system.
1) THE TRUE COST OF BORROWING FOR COLLEGE IS NEVER STATED. The Federal Student Loan Program is NOT explained in any detail for the YEARS to come. There are no required training seminars or sessions for prospective students and their parents or guardians. Students are shoved into a University electronic portal, & told to press a button on their laptop, tablet, or phone. to send their loan to the school. Unreal.
2) FINANCIAL ILLITERACY IS FUELING THIS PROBLEM. The financial illiteracy of students and their parents is a national embarrassment. No student should graduate from any high school without a required course in basic personal finances. AND, at least one week of that year long class should be spent teaching how higher education loans really work!
3) GRADUATION RATES ARE TOO LOW TO MAKE BORROWING A WORTHY GAMBLE. No one wants to learn the school of their student’s choice only graduates 41% of their entering freshman in 4 years. Or, it takes two more years of paying for college to climb up to a 61% graduation rate. That still leaves 4 in 10 students not graduating who started college. That is not acceptable. But that is reality.
In fact, there are currently 39 million people who didn’t make it. They have an acronym. SCNC.
Some College, No Credential
4) YOUR STUDENT HAS A 4 IN 10 CHANCE OF BEING A SCNC. The LEADING cause of this status is, you guessed it, financial issues. It comes at you from many angles. What if there is a gap after ALL the awards, grants, & loans are exhausted? What if you are attending on an athletic scholarship, a new coach comes in and dumps the whole team, including your scholarship? (Real Life Recent Scenario) What are you supposed to do? Those dumped athletes need money to stay in school or they leave school. Take your pick. The stories abound of life hitting you with a sucker punch while trying to get your degree.
5) YOU FINALLY SEE THE PILED-UP LOANS AND YOU WANT TO STOP THE BLEEDING- SO YOU QUIT.
I don’t know exactly when this happens, but it seems to show up around their Junior year. They see the borrowed money, they see how much more they have to do, and they quit. Like the grim reaper, the repayments start showing up 6 mos later. And they keep on showing up every month for decades.
Instead, help your student towards their gifts. Today I had lunch with a good friend who is a senior in high school this fall. He loves mechanical stuff. He has a full-time job this summer at a marina. He thinks he might want to become a welder. She said he will likely go to community college, where they may pay him to attend, graduate a skilled trades program, and have multiple job offers. What is wrong with this?
Absolutely nothing!
So let’s start with a goal. In fact, let’s make it a pledge. Repeat after me.
I pledge to support my student’s gifts and vocational direction, and help them get the training or education they need to pursue their vocational dreams at the best possible price.”
Now- be a hero and do the work to make this happen. It will be a gift your student will praise you for in the decades to come. While their friends are bent under their student loans, yours can be in a much better place because you worked together to plan and PAY for it ahead of time.
Academic Issues will come next!
Until Next Time,
All My Best,
Bonnie Burkett
