@citrusite The point is, your friends didn’t have the same experience you did. But if they couldn’t afford it, they couldn’t afford it. When I was in college, all my roommates and a few other friends went on spring break. Some took out extra loan money at the start of the year just for spring break. I didn’t go because I kept my loans as minimal as humanly possible and I had abou $40 in my bank account at any given moment. It just wasn’t an option for me. So I didn’t go. I think it’s a big problem with society lately that people rack up student loan debt, credit card debt, buying cars they can’t afford, clothes, vacations etc. If you can’t afford something, don’t buy it. That really seems like a novelty idea lately.
Now I know college is different, it’s an investment in your future, blah blah, but that’s only because the education system has made it this way. And college is NOT for everybody. Student loans are NOT for everybody. But high schools are forcing every kid they have into four year universities because its better for their funding, and some guidance counselors get actual bonuses based on the percentage of their kids they send to state universities. There is no concern by a guidance counselor in any school of whether or not the 17 year old child sitting across their desk can afford college. It’s not on their radar. In their mind, the child needs college. But that’s only because they’ve pushed every other poor sap to college before them, creating a new bar for employment.
My point is, if you can afford college, realistically, and have an idea of what you want to major in and do for a living, then by all means go. But 1% of students have a need for 400k of student loans, 10% have a need for 100k of student loans. There are tons of other options and for 89% of students, if you can’t afford it, don’t take out a loan to fake like you can unless you have a realistic plan.
