Recapturing the Lost Decade

Young adults who begin life with college debt are faced with a decade of student loan repayments. One in which their personal freedoms are at risk because of financial choices they made in high school. For many, their 20’s becomes a lost decade. What should be a time of growth and pursuit becomes limited and complicated. Some are delaying marriage. Others are working in jobs that aren’t a good fit. And others let their dreams slip as the weight of their debt warrants their full attention.

The Math is Surprisingly Simple

1. Tuition: 120 x Credit Cost
(120 = minimum number of credits required for a four-year degree)
2. Campus Living: add $11,000 per year
3. Borrowing to finance your lifestyle: add $7,000 per year

Cost Per Credit – Tuition and Fees Average
$33 CLEP or DSST
$ varies ACE-recommended courses
$122 Community College
$341 State University – In-State
$876 State University – Out-of-State
$1,194 Private University

Your Resourceful Alternative

A) Assemble your own degree, patching together credits from a wide array of resources and institutions. Look to CLEP, DSST, Dual enrollment, Community College, and low-cost credit-eligible courses from ACE-recommended organizations.

B) Include two career-related internships.

C) Finish your last year earning credits from the college in which you will graduate. If you must borrow to finish, hold to this rule of thumb: Don’t borrow more than you will earn your first year after graduation.

What Your Students Should Know

“Given the option today, who would give back their college degree to be debt free?” A great question posted on a personal finance Facebook Group that generated hundreds of responses from adults who still own their debt from past decades.

I would encourage you to swim against the tide. As a family, listen to personal finance guru Dave Ramsey’s Podcast: Borrowed Future Podcast: What No One Told You About Student Loans

Please share this article with friends and introduce them to Credits Before College.  
Copyright©2019 Cheri Frame – All Rights Reserved.

Category: Blog, Vision