Comments on: Conversations About Our Student Loans

By: AliceS

AliceS — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:48:50 +0000

If there is anyone left who thinks that a good education is some sort of insurance of getting a decent job these days I would suggest that you re-think that. The higher paying jobs are so few and far between that getting into huge debt for an education thinking your job will pay them off is Russian Roulette for your future. Odds are that the high paying you think you are going to have will be given to an H1B visa holder or sent overseas and your education will be worth nothing after 3-4 years of not putting any of the skills you learn to use anyway.
Alice from BritainLoans

By: MalPal

MalPal — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 04:27:33 +0000

Oh, man. This thread and article hurts my heart, because I am struggling so much right now personally, financially, spiritually because I do not know what to do with myself. I have $45,000 of SLD, all Stafford and a little Perkins. I will probably consolidate under IBR eventually, unless I can make standard payments. My major was Music Education. I have no desire to teach and my social anxiety makes me a bad candidate for virtually any leadership job. I don’t have connections because I don’t make them with people, so I feel like grad school for vocal performance (my dream) is unattainable. I’m living at home right now, and feeling like an ultimate, awful loser. I wish I knew what to do but I feel like I truly will never be happy. Sorry for the sob story but maybe some of my peers will understand my problems. :-\

By: shannowhamo

shannowhamo — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 01:30:22 +0000

@highjump Yup, if you just want to be a regular desk-sittin’, book orderin’ librarian, that shit is hard to come by. I got my MLS in 2008 and am working two part time librarian jobs (and have been for 5 years.) I make it work but it also means no sick time, no vacation time, no health insurance. AND split shifts (9AM to 9PM with a couple hours in between) AND never feeling like I’m totally aware of what is happening at either library. BUT people are starting to retire finally (lots of people put it off a couple years because of the economy) so things may be looking up in that regard. But there is an overwhelming move towards filling traditional librarian jobs with paraprofessionals. It sucks because it’s a great job and (at least where I went) the easiest Masters in the world to get.

By: pretzels!

pretzels! — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:37:40 +0000

@sockhopbop YES! I always pay a little more than my minimum and if I have a rough month, say around the holidays, I can skip my payment that month. It does not lower your monthly payment but in the long run makes it more flexible. I know if something happens I have a good six months where I could gain the extra cash I need by being able to hold off my loan payment.

By: kavitha

kavitha — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:51:14 +0000

@ghechr Yeah mine are from vet school and the nice thing is that most of us only have federal loans (which meant we spent a lot of time semi-joking about how we hoped that if we got kicked by a cow or horse, it’d kill us outright so that we wouldn’t have to pay back the loans) which makes the process a tiny bit friendlier and less opaque but obviously caveat borrower in all cases.

By: Drea

Drea — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:44:05 +0000

I hate these. My parents made too much to help me qualify for much aid, but not enough to be able to actually help me out. So instead I”m making about the same as dude #2, and paying closer to $650 a month to try and get ahead of my loans. And I can’t go to grad school because adding more onto the $70k I owe now is terrifying. Or even a PhD with stipend because the interest is freaking ridiculous. I’ve got a physical science degree.

By: Shostakobitch

Shostakobitch — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:37:38 +0000

@jason That sounds eminently more sensible than fleeing in the night to sell trinkets on the beach in Honduras or realizing the dream of robbing a Brinks truck. I’m sure your fiancee agrees. Be careful not to let your joint income push up your minimum payment amount on that IBR.

By: thewurst

thewurst — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:01:15 +0000

@bgprincipessa I’m going to a dual degree program in the Fall in Library Science and Art History, and from my discussions with recently graduated students from the program and faculty, their job prospects seem pretty solid. Don’t lose hope!

By: petitesuissesse

petitesuissesse — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:34:30 +0000

@highjump Those rural librarians are now being replaced (when and if they can ever afford to retire) with paraprofessional (people without MLIS degrees). If you want to work in a rural (or other “interesting” “underprivileged” public library), get as much experience as you can; it’s worth more than the degree.

If you want to work in an academic library (ahahahaha, there’s no jobs, anyway!), get a “subject” masters.

In either case, start volunteering as early as possible in a place you like. Libraries like to hire from within. Maybe, you’ll get lucky.

By: Sarah Rain@facebook

Sarah Rain@facebook — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:25:33 +0000

B: it sounds like having the loans hanging over your head really impacts your life. PAY THEM OFF RIGHT NOW. Seriously, it’s so freeing. With your current earnings you can live super-cheap for the next three years, put everything into them, and they will be GONE. It’s so worth it. My husband and I did this for both his student loans (which we paid off while living on a grad stipend and as a VISTA volunteer, respectively) and our mortgage (which we paid off in 10 years despite one of us being home with kids for much of that time). It is AWESOME.

Going back to school and taking out more loans to get a brief respite from the ones you have: that’s just plain dumb. Don’t do it. I went to grad school for a bit because my program covered tuition and gave me a living stipend. I don’t think it’s ever a good financial decision to pay for grad school.