"I'm Back..." Part 5

Black Graduates Owe More Debt Than White, Asian, or Hispanic Graduates

By Ashley Marchand, published in the Chronicle of Higher Education

Key Findings of this Article...

Students who borrow the most are disproportionately black, and are more likely to have attended a private nonprofit or for-profit college than a public four-year college. But debt levels did not necessarily reflect family income.

Borrowing for college makes a lot of sense, but some students seem to be borrowing more than they will be able to reasonably repay.  It's better to realize that in advance than to realize that after you've already taken the debt.


According to the report, the problem is not that all students are borrowing too much, but that difficulties in predicting earnings after graduation, and students' lack of understanding about the financial impact of loans, leave too many of them borrowing more than they can manage.

Despite the loan debt that students built up, borrowing can be beneficial, as long as students make wise choices about whether or not a college fits with their financial resources, and whether they are taking out the best loans available.

Final Analysis:  I honestly think many young students and parents fail to evaluate the quality of education they plan to receive compared to the cost of tuition and fees.  It's as simple as weighing public school versus private, free money versus loans, can the student sustain for four years and not 6.  Often time students spend too much time finding ways to borrow money versus taking advantage of the free money/fewer loans (i.e., making good grades, not being ruled ineligible) when they first arrive on campus their freshman and sophomore years versus piling debt in their junior, senior and the years that follow. 

#If I could do it all over again...(you finish the statement).
(All the people on tweetface (facebook and twitter), see below and make sure you tag http://www.itoodream.blogspot.com/ as it relates to this article.)  


If I could do it all over again, no summer school (and the loans that came with it) for me.  I went when I didn't have too.  That's what I get for not wanting to go back to the ville.