Pajiba

Congratulations to Mrs. and Mr. Scott! I did pursue further learning (in fact, still doing); but so far I've managed to remain loan-free. And anatomy is possibly one of the coolest academic disciplines out there. I can tell it from personal experience...I happen to teach it!

I moved in with my boyfriend (now husband) right out of high school, which meant my parents refused to pay for any of my education (understandably). Hubby & I paid for my associate's degree at a junior college out of our own pockets, and I took out loans to finish up a bachelor's in history at a local university, so I'm about $20,000 in debt to the government for my education. If it wasn't for the cost, I would be a lifetime student, but sadly, cannot afford to do so. I've been out of school for a year, but still work at the same office as when I started school, and don't really have any plans to leave. My degree may have been a waste of money in the sense that I don't plan to do much with it, but the experience was worth it to me.

To answer your questions, I did pursue higher learning. Four years of college and three years of law school. I was one of the lucky ones who are doing something they love, that being prosecuting scumbags who take advantage of the weak, the poor, and the unsuspecting. I work horrible hours, our office is understaffed, we barely have office supplies and money to mail out summonses, and I take bullshit from defense attorneys, judges, and every single idiotic person who thinks they know how to crack down on crime better than the experts on crime. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. I was also lucky enough (and fucking awesomely smart enough) to get a full scholarship for undergrad and 75k in scholarships for law school. However, law school is an expensive joke that never ends because I still have 100k in debt. The Man owns my ass for the rest of my life, barring any sort of lottery winning situation. Was it worth it? Yes and no. Yes because as previously stated, I love my job despite the numerous setbacks. As I'm sure all of you know, there is great pleasure in giving someone their comeuppance, and it is magnified 1 billion-fold when you get to make sure a dirtbag goes to jail for robbing little old ladies or selling drugs to children. In addition, the future Mr. Lake is a police officer whom I met while in my present employment. The part that isn't worth it is the f*cking neverending debt, the deterioration in my credit score, the fact that I will never see Europe again or Asia or Egypt because poor people don't go overseas. And guess what!? The economy sucks just as much for lawyers as it does for everybody else. Even if I wanted to leave my job and go elsewhere, they aren't handing out 6-figure salaries like they used to. Would I do it all over again? No idea. But I am pretty happy where I am now.

Mine is a work in progress.

I didn't go to college right out of high school, because I damn well knew I had no clue what I wanted in life. Joined the Army instead, which didn't work out for me, but that's another story. I DID, however, turn the Army training around into credit towards a degree in Intelligence Operations, which will be done in the spring if all goes well. After that, I'm leaning towards a further degree in Political Science and hopefully can turn those two things towards a degree IN Intelligence, in which case my Army time would no longer be a waste.

So I guess the answer is... I don't know yet if it's worth it. Thus far I have no loans to repay, but that's sure to change once I pursue the PoliSci.

1. Yes.

2. Since I studied Fine Arts, it's not so much that I found a "job in my field" - it's more-so about who I am. And looking at my current career progress, I'm very happy with where I am as an artist, and I'm working on my MFA applications right now. Most of the jobs I've had since graduation have had little to do with conceptual photography and animation, however.

3. $130,000 (USC + forbearances = debt for life)

4. It was very worth it.

Yes. And my parents started saving for my college education before I was born, so it's not so much a question of how much I'll be in debt to banks as how much I'll owe my parents once they're old. It's gonna be a lot, but I'm pretty much OK with that. Because maybe, if I'm really lucky, I'll be able to get a job in a field related to my study when I graduate.

I cannot even get into what horrible snafu happened to me. Student loan transfer somehow gone wrong in my last semester of school. Ugh. A decade of hell on this earth to outlast the effects of incompetent bureaucrats. Wish I'd had Lake on my side back then when it was all, 'wtf?'

In my field, if we shall call artful bullshittery such, you must go to one of three local schools to be properly networked for all future employment. I'd suggest connections offered by education are as valuable, if not more, that the credit for the resume.

College is a fucking grift.

I think esme brings up a good point: I'm curious not only how much Pajibans have in student loans, but how those educations have been funded. How much did parents help you out? How much did significant others help you, if you're further down the line.

In my situation, my parents did not pay a single cent toward undergrad or grad (though here's hoping for the latter!). One of the reasons I went into my field is because I figured that if I'm paying for it all on my own, I'm going to do something I really want to do.

My diploma sits in a trunk in a cubbyhole under the stairs. No employer (and no one else, come to think of it) has ever asked to see it.

Fortunately, it didn't cost a cent.

The only thing that ever held me back in life was me. I'm lazy and unmotivated, and now I'm old, too.

Yes, it's been a good life.

This comment thread is so timely for me because (a) I graduated from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design back in 1994 and (b) I finally landed a job that directly speaks to my aforementioned credential. I am currently the new, part-time executive director for a very small, non-profit creative arts society. Its the worst job and the best job I've ever had.

Worst because I'm trying to get their member driven gallery to be more fiscally responsible and to have exhibitions that better reflect the community, while dealing with a board that wants to maintain the status quo. Adding to the mix is a very disgruntled board member that I reported to the president for sexually harassment (I don't tolerate that shit, especially when its directed at me, and ESPECIALLY since I found out he's been inappropriate with other female members in the past).

Best because I've met the coolest and most supportive people and have been given a new-found respect for "little old lady painters".

One year at expensive out-of-state uni. Too expensive!

Two years at community college. Transfer quickly!

Three semesters at state university. Just graduate already!

Debt level: mine, $0. dad, 20k?

I have to pay him back as soon as I get a job because I feel so guilty about it. Poor guy.

I finished my BA in anthropology in May of '09 and joined AmeriCorps after several months of soul-crushing and pointless job searching. I left about 17k in the hole, but with my pretty little education award I'll get for doing a year a national service it should get knocked down to about 12k in a few months.

Since I've only been out the door for like a year and a half it's too early in the game to say if it was worth it or not. I've been really torn about it. On the one hand I had so many awesome experiences getting the degree (and I do mean academic and professional experiences, not keg stand-type experiences). But on the other hand it hasn't yet resulted in a stable, living-wage paying job that I was assured would be waiting for me once I walked across that stage.

I almost feel bitter on behalf of my entire graduating class for this reason. We were told from the day we began kindergarten that getting a college degree- ANY college degree- would result in a decently paying job and reasonable quality of life. So we made the good grades, did all the after-school activities, got into good universities, did the internships and part-time jobs...and then we graduate just in time for America to be like, "Oops, we broke everything. Our bad." All hell breaks loose and we find ourselves competing with laid off Gen Xers for jobs that pay $10/hr. 19% of new grads found jobs in 2009 and I don't think the percentage was much better this year. So instead of starting entry-level jobs, paying off our debt and actually contributing to the economy like "normal" college grads, a good number of us are hiding in grad school and praying that a second piece of sheep skin will make a difference, volunteering, going back to school at community colleges so we can learn something that will, like, actually result in a job, or we're underemployed, often working under people who have less education but had the benefit of entering the work force at better times.

So yeah, I guess you can say I'm feeling a bit bitter over everything and feeling pretty pissed at myself for actually believing the bullcrap about "study what interests you, it doesn't matter what you major in." Say that all you want, but I don't see my nursing degree friends driving ten-year-old cars and eating ramen.

All this bitching aside, I AM extremely grateful that I had the sense to work all through school and keep my loan debt to a minimum. And like I said, college was an awesome experience. I'll let you know in a few years if it was 17 grand worth of awesome.

My husband is a pharmacist. He was on a dual program in college, so he attended school for 7 years instead of 8 (three a a private university and four at a state pharmacy school). He graduated with a BS in Chemistry and a PharmD. He also completed a one-year residency during which he was paid a small salary. After all was said and done, we had acquired $73,000 worth of debt. In our case, the money is worth it in the long run.

I went to college for four years and got a BA in English and a 7-12 teacher licensure. Fortunately, I received scholarships that covered over half of my tuition, room and board. The rest was paid by my generous parents. I could have actually gone to a dozen state schools on a full ride, but my mom insisted I attend a private school close to home (she bribed me with an "allowance" so I took the bait and used it for smokes and drinks). My degree has served me well, but I cannot IMAGINE what it is like for my fellow teachers who had to borrow to go to school. I have one friend who may never finish paying off her loans on her salary.

I'm currently a student trying to get a masters in Architecture. Thanks to a combination of my parents saving money and a nice scholarship I should escape with a minimal amount of debt. However no one really wants to hire an architect in these days so I'm pretty screwed.

I was extremely lucky when it came to paying for college. My parents covered my basic living expenses, and I paid for tuition, which being a state school, was only about $5000 a year. I dropped out after 2 years, not because college wasn't awesome (it was) but because I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and I was basically paying $5000 a year to hang out in the art studios and chill with my awesome new college friends.

So I dropped out moved home, and worked overtime at numerous shitty retail/restaurant jobs. Since I was living with my folks and had minimal bills I managed to pay off all my debt in under a year. Of course I was also miserable, I was working all the time and living with my parents, so yeah.

Still with no idea what I wanted to do I spent a year abroad working as an au pair and traveling. I got into farming and started doing some farm stays both abroad and back home. I roadtripped across the US, working on different farms, got an internship, became a farm manager, and even started my own business. I'll never be rich, but I'm okay with that, I love what I do and my work actually makes me happy.

I know a lot of people really regret dropping out of college, but I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions of my adult life (if not THE best decision of my adult life) and I have absolutely no regrets (or debt! or a useless art studio degree!)

I make damn good money with my community college education that I paid cash for. Bam.

I'm not really one to be talking about this, as I got a full scholarship, and I currently only have about $15000 in debt and I am being paid almost $30,000 a year to get my Ph.D.

So, if you can obtain that sort of a deal, I'd recommend full-speed ahead.

I graduated with a BA in English for about 28,000 all told. I graduated over 4 years ago and I think I still owe about 25,000, and I honestly can't remember if I'm exaggerating that number or not. It's too depressing to think about. My first job out of college was part time Data Capture Associate, and after about a year I got a job as a freelance proofreader for an advertising company. Then about 14 months after that I started working as a full time proofreader at a translation company. THEN after another 8 months I moved with my fiance to Wisconsin so she could pursue a Masters at UWM. I think she owes about 40 or 50 thousand at the moment. And that was about 15 months ago. Damn.

I was lucky enough to get a full ride to law school, make law review and now I am employed at my dream firm making 160k a year!

I got through three years of a degree in music business before money ran out and I had to transfer to a smaller, significantly less expensive college. There, I earned a degree in literature in three years. It would have been two, but they insisted on such marvelous technicalities as a course on the transition from Realism to Modernism in foreign-language literature was neither an international literature course (but Margaret Atwood was) or even a literature course.

Does working in musical theater count as halfway between music business and literature? That's how I pitch my education and it only fails me when someone decides I'm too [descriptor, like short, fat, or Irish-looking] to be a music director in the greater NYC area (I've heard all those and then some (or didn't you know that blondes can't possibly orchestrate as well as brunettes?).

Debt? Crippling beyond belief. Worth it? Probably not, as I should have just ignored everyone else, gone to a conservatory for piano, and left with enough credentials to get whatever behind the scenes music and accompanying work I wanted. Too bad when I was applying for schools my only interest was vocal performance, not directorial/accompanying/writing work.

Graduated from a 4 year private college in 1993. $22k/year, so my debt could have been around $88K.

Luckily, I qualified for a decent scholarship, got some grants and other financial aid from the school, and ended up with about $11K of debt, which was paid off after about 10 years. I think my parents paid about $18 K.

It was WELL worth it. I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life about 6 years ago, and the degree helped me get my starter job in that career. My education also gave me a solid foundation of critical thinking and writing skills.

I don't think I would have become the person I was meant to be if I had lived at home and gone to community college, or gone to a school with lots of people from my high school. Starting over 1,500 miles from home where no one knew I was "the brain" or "the nerd" gave me an opportunity to see who I thought I should be, not who my high school peers told me I was.

Finally - Robert - I've heard that you should not be saving for your kids' college if it means you're not maxing out your retirement savings. The reasoning is that the government / banks will loan young people money to go to college. They won't loan you money to buy your meds and maintain your home when you're 90. Take care of your future first, and if there's extra, then put it away for the kids.*

*This is just what I've heard from more than one expert, but it makes sense to me. It's also likely US-centric, as other countries may have a better track record of caring for their elders. Anywhoo...throwing it out there for you to consider.

Went to one of them there "bargain" liberal arts schools (Hendrix College, if anyone cares) that turned out to be less of a bargain as they raised tuition solely to move upmarket in comparison to similar schools (Rhodes, Ogelthorpe, Trinity).

Got me a 100k degree in fancy thinking (Philosophy) and a minor in prancing (The-ater) en route to law school.

That never happened.

Coming on 5 years later, I still have about the same 17k of debt, working a very very tolerable job that only has the drawback of keeping me from pursuing the onstage dream.

Among the many pluses of the job is the near certainty that I make more money than the chair of the Theatre department who managed to ruin my senior year in the theater.

I've been lucky in this area. I went to an excellent state university from 1988 to 1993. Because it was my stepfather's alma mater and he was doing fine financially, he was more than happy to pay for it. Tuition, fees, and expenses ran about $5K a year back then (can you even believe that shit???). I got married during my first senior year and took on the expenses. Since our income was now based on my new Army husband's below-poverty level income, I got lots of grants and only had to borrow a small amount to finish. It took me about a year to pay it back. I got a BA in English with secondary teaching certification. Began teaching high school right away, became a technical writer for four years, loved it but missed the stimulation of the classroom and went back to education.

Years later, and now a school district administrator, I got an M.Ed in Curriculum & Instruction from a very well-regarded program at a second tier (read: driveable distance) public university. That program was $12K and I paid for 6 and borrowed 6. I'm nearly done paying that back. The only reason I borrowed is doing it one class at a time (which was what I could afford) was going to take FOREVER. What I do is very directly and specifically linked to both my degrees and I would be on a different pay scale with the advanced degree, so I really needed to finish up.

All in all, a very good deal.

The day Little Snuggie was born, her great-grandfather died. The 10K inheritance was placed in trust and is now nearly 40K. If she attends the same school I did (it's looking that way), her expenses for four years will be 80K. The other half will be made up of VA Chapter 35 and a more recent inheritance she hasn't been informed of yet.

That's also just lucky. May the educational luck continue to be intergenerational, amen.

My best friend borrowed 80K to get her master's in architecture at Tulane and I don't think she's anywhere near paying it off. That was many years ago. But at least she does make a great living. Still, borrowing that much terrified her.

It's my understanding that post-secondary is much more expensive in the US, but I went to a good university in Canada that has probably cost about $35,000 in all by the time I finish my last semester (in May! weeee!).

My family gave me $5,000 and the rest was up to me. How much do I owe in loans? ZERO. I started my Bachelor in Business Fall 06 and have lived at home while going to school full time and working part time. I had my first job at 15 and started saving money then. In my first year I got a job at a credit union and currently work in the head office doing something directly related to my degree while paying tuition and other bills (well, as many as a 22-year-old living at home can have).

I admit that my grades hover around average, nothing overly impressive, but the work experience I've gained by starting a career early have been the most valuable. I don't have the time or energy to make sure I ace every test, but I'm always shocked how many A students there are that aren't capable or surviving in the real world. Even in this bad economy, they would not only get passed over for a job due to lack of soft skills, but really have no idea how to do anything for themselves.

But to direct myself back to the original matter, just this past week there was a protest on my campus over student debt and it makes me incredibly frustrated. I got to where I am by my own hard work. I really think it's a choice - work through college, maybe extend your degree a little bit, sacrifice your time, etc OR sign up for loans and have to pay up later. The system isn't great, but with the options in front of you, you have to make a choice and be responsible for it. Just today I heard about some girl who owes $200,000 and has set up a website for people to donate to help her pay it off. No joke. My careful money habits tell me to NOT spend my money donating to that cause.

This isn't meant to be a dig at all the people above who have debt to pay off and my thoughts are applicable mostly for undergrad degrees. I sympathize with your situations and hope it doesn't drag on for too long. It's just not the route I wanted.

Do I wish sometimes I could have had the carefree four years? Definitely, but I can't ignore the consequences that would mean, so it just wasn't in the cards for me and that's ok.

I rarely ever post, only lurk, but this subject hits close to home.

Studied English lit and Anthropology in Croatia (we don't have majors and minors, both are equally important). Riding on the post-socialist tradition of free higher education (it survived in my time, but the rampant capitalism has finally caught up with us)and my excellent high school grades, I managed to study for free and even received student financial aid during my four years at university.
Was it worth it? I wrote the best Shakespeare exam of all the students in my year and now I work in a multinational that produces and sells construction equipment. I often think of those gentle times of hanging out at the university, going to (almost) all my classes when I'm stuck in the warehouse taking inventory with my collegues or worrying whether a sealing set will reach us in time. Then I'd go back in a time machine and kick my 18 year old ass for not srudying medicine. I literally cannot find another job and now dream of finding a slightly less sucky job within the corporation, definitely outside of Croatia...So while I had the time of my life as a student, now it pretty much blows cause I know a little about everything (HR, marketing, etc) but am not an expert in anything.working in publishing is my dream job, but it's never gonna happen in this country...

I'm an international student, so my tuition fees were about five times what domestic students paid. Luckily my parents could afford to send me to England, and also pretty much pay for everything I needed. I'm back home now, working at an accounting firm for reasonably good pay.

Also I'm living at home: not because I want to, but our culture is such that a young unmarried girl living by herself raises more than a few eyebrows.

So yeah. Totally worth it in the end.

Congratulations! I made my last payment in September and it felt pretty great. The annoying part for me was I got out of my 4 year degree at Purdue debt free. Then 2 years later I decided to go to art school to pursue a multi-media degree but after 9 months wasn't happy with changes made to the program. Those 9 months, of night school no less, cost me over 10 grand. So I didn't get jack shit out of that failed experiment, but my bachelor's degree has been 100% useful. Most jobs I've taken have been required to have a B. S. Doesn't matter what it's in (mine is Hospitality Management) and I've worked less than a month in that industry since graduating.

I'm not pushing college on my kids if it doesn't match their goals. I think my daughter will go, but I suspect my son will go to the military first. But I do tell them how cutthroat it is to get in now and they need to get excellent grades to stand a fighting chance. Sure is much harder to get in than it was 20 years ago.

mrblenny - it's not just life experience (though that is good), but a basic level of skills that you get regardless of your degree. University education isn't the only way to get life experience or the basic skills you need to find satisfying employment. RedRightAnkle travelled extensively, then used skills and experiences gained through travel to get him or herself educational opportunities in a field he or she finds fulfilling. That takes a lot of luck and hard work, and it's incredibly impressive. Unfortunately, most people don't find what they're looking for that quickly, and having a college degree to fall back on can give them options while they search, even if their chosen field doesn't turn out to be it. But college isn't the be all end all, and trade schools or internship programs can be amazing and provide great opportunities. I don't get it when people decry education as useless, though. Trade schools and internships are educational settings too, and even if the specific field of study doesn't end up factoring into your career, education makes you a better-rounded, more capable, and more interesting person.

I floated from college to college, then joined the military for a few years and used the G.I. Bill to pay for night school until I got my BA in English with a minor in Letters (the opposite of Technical Writing). I did not attend expensive schools, so I worked damned near full-time (even when carrying a full course load) to pay off the quarter/semester tuitions up front.

As for the point of this post, not only did I switch schools several times, I also switched majors. I went from Elementary Education to Child/Abnormal Psychology to Anthropology (with a focus on Archaeology) to English. I currently hold a job that has absolutely nothing to do with my English degree, but I hope to write some things in the future when my kids get older.

I was the third kid, out of four, heading to college with only six years between the oldest and youngest. I had no clue what I wanted to do and my grades were shit. So I ended up in the Navy. I get out and use the GI Bill, which runs out this year, with still a year to go (Gonna be selling some fluids next year!). Fun thing I learned, six years of operating an A4W nuclear reactor results in exactly ONE credit...PE for boot camp.

I will be on much better footing than most people when I do finally graduate, with minimal debt and a degree in mechanical engineering, but even high tech jobs are getting shipped overseas. I'm amazed that anyone has the balls to get some of these degrees that have zero potential of ever resulting in a paying career.

Being a Londoner living in London, I went to a university in London.

A 4 year Masters degree in Astrophysics was the stated goal, but after 3 weeks I realised that while I still tentatively held onto a passion for the subject, I didn't like being told what to do - which strangely seems to be an inherent trait of the education system.

So I started drinking, and carried on drinking for 4 years, barely scraping through the exams that I did go to, and repeating a year here and there, only to meet a stand-up comedian along the way who told me to also be a stand-up comedian.

So, ~ £13,000 (~ $20,000) later I emerged, having learned much more about myself (specifically the capacity of my liver) rather than Astrophysics.

'The lesson is: never try.'

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I live in an Eastern European country and went to Uni here, in my hometown. There were tax free spots and those that came with an anual fee, but it's not that high even now, about 1000 Euros, I think. Of course, to many, that's pretty expensive as the gap between income and living cost is dumbfounding.
I graduated in the aughts and went on to get my Masters degree immediately as I was worried I'd coast for way too long if I didn't get right into it after college.
My job has everything to do with my chosen field, unfortunately I am overqualified. Everyone tells me my education, experience and character make me a candidate for a management position. Everyone except top management, that is.

clothes2.us

Well, I did an undergrad in Psyc, came out owing $11,000. Worked crappy, very low paying job only peripherally related to my degree for 2 years. Maybe if I was a better job seeker, I could have found something better. I went to grad school and gt a Master's in Social Work and came out with my total (including undergrad) about $40,000. I currently make about $45K (10 yrs after grad school). If I were a more devoted job hunter I could probably make a wee bit more, but I am fairly happy with my current job and it has a great benefits package that goes a long way toward making up for the slightly low salary.
My husband owes more like $65k I think, but he has a master's in achitecture and (when the economy is good) earns quite a bit more than me, around $73k. When the economy is bad, like now, architects get hit quite hard. He has been unemployed for several months now and has applied for around 200 positions, most of which have gone on to just not hire anyone.
I do think we have a better life and better income that we would have without our degrees, even if you subract what we spend on student loans. We're getting sick of how long it takes to pay them though, so our plan (provided my husband finds a job soon) is to sell our home, move to someplace much cheaper for 2-3 years, and try to pay off our student loans in that time. otherwise we'll still be paying on them when our son is starting college.
I do occasionally consider going back to school for a veterinary medicine degree or maybe respiratory therapy, but I'm not going to do it until we can afford to pay for it with no loans.

Oh and how I paid for it:
undergrad: my parents were poor, but not poor enough. I have maybe $2,000 saved from working some menial high school jobs, I have about $4,000 in scholarship money, the rest was loans (which only covered classes and books)and I worked all the way through undergrad. If I was really desperate, I could get a little help here and there from my parents.
grad school: Loans, and I worked up to 30 hours a week while in grad school and still finished my degree in 2 years. I had to stop working the last semester because I had a 40 hr/wk internship (unpaid of course), which meant my loans were higher.

I think Wednesday is totally right about not pushing kids straight into HE. I went to uni at 17, straight from high school because everyone I knew did and my parents wanted me to. Although I liked my course and I made some good friends, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, no idea what working in a real job actually meant, and mostly just wasn't ready. Had a I given it another couple of years I might have come out with more debt (or not) but I think I would have been in a better place emotionally to get the most out of the experience.

When I was choosing colleges, one of my criteria was financial aid. The school I chose was expensive, but they gave me a number of grants. Funny thing about grants though, they are based on your parents submitting their tax forms to verify income. My parents, being self employed filed extensions every year. I would get letters from the financial aid office every month detailing how much of my money was being transferred from grants to loans, due to a lack of information. Long story short, I graduated with a professional degree and a substantial amount of debt that I was not expecting. Had I known, I'd have chosen another school. That being said, we've recently paid off our loans, and in a year or so my daughter will be going off to school, hopefullt to end up with a lot less debt. Look, as an 18 year old, if I asked to borrow 100K for anything other than education I'd be laughed at. But for education, you're allowed to mortgage your future. I certainly did not understand as a senior in high school what this level of debt would involve.

Right now I am actually suffering financially for not having finished an undergraduate degree. I did three years of uni, then did two years at a professional (and accredited) school for art and design. Since it is not affiliated with an institution of higher learning, I have a post-graduate diploma to show for five years of hard fought education. I paid for it myself, with a little help from my parents and grandparents and ended up at a state school for the college part mostly because that's all I could afford. My art school tuition was $1000/quarter for two years way back in 1993.

Until two years ago, I was never asked if I had an undergraduate degree. I worked in my field and got lots of experience which carried me through with good-enough jobs. Then the bottom fell out and when we moved back to the states; I could not find work in my profession, I hadn't worked in a few years and I was caught in the mommy-trap, too much experience for entry level, but everyone assumed I'd forgotten everything I knew and wouldn't try me in higher-level management positions. Believe me, I learned more about good management raising two kids in the UK that any design job I ever had.

Anywho, I'm now working as a contract employee for a local university in a project management position. It's a great job, and I do it really well, but I can't be hired full-time (and get the great state benefits) because I don't have that elusive undergrad terminal degree and the provost's office refuses to give credit for the two years at art school. Funny thing is, if I had the full-time job, I could afford to finish my degree by taking classes I could probably teach. Gotta love an academic Catch-22.

So, stay in school and at least get the undergrad under your belt, you may need that piece of paper later.

I have a B.A. in journalism. I'm working in advertising now, so I'm sorta working in the same field. I'm certainly making as much or more now in advertising than I ever could in journalism (I didn't plan it that way, just sorta fell into it).

I got several scholarships and grants to go to school (20 years ago) and graduated completely debt-free. My parents couldn't afford to pay for any of it (which made me eligible for some of those scholarships and grants, I guess). I believe the total cost was somewhere in the neighborhood of $15K-$20K. Private school, not state school; got a full scholarship, at that time it was valued at $13K. Went to school full time, graduated in 4 years, in 1988. Can't remember the per-hour cost, sorry. Grants (including a Pell Grant) and other scholarships paid for the rest.

I do feel bad for people who are in terrible debt to get a degree/education. I think if there's anything our government should pony up for, it's education. In 2009, our government (feds) spent $644 billion on SS, $408 billion on Medicare, $224 billion on Medicaid, $360 billion on unemployment/welfare-type programs, $260 billion on interest on the national debt and $515 billion on the Dept. of Defense. It spent $41.3 billion on grant aid for undergraduate and graduate students in 2009-10, the most recent year for which data are available. States, of course, allocate money for their university systems also.

It really demonstrates what we think is really important, as well as who really has political power in this country (both power as gatekeepers and power as voters). If we're not prepared to completely subsidize all university education, I think we should at least subsidize certain extremely useful and important and expensive degrees, like medical degrees, maybe some engineering and/or science-related degrees. I think it's appalling that we require future doctors to go hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt. That's just goddam shameful. States pay some college coaches in excess of a million dollars a year, but we have medical students mortgaging their future earnings to become doctors. That shit needs to be reversed. I don't expect it to, though.

Having said all that, not everybody needs to go to college. It is a very expensive way to get education, esp. if your goal is simply to get a degree so you will be considered sufficiently educated (ie, many employers prefer to hire people with degrees, even if the job doesn't really require one).

I don't think any education is a "waste," but I do see how someone with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and no job (or a cruddy job) to show for it would think so. And there does seem to be a college industry (and its loan servicers) who benefit tremendously, at the expense of students (and taxpayers). I do believe a lot of the education finance sector is akin to a scam, kinda like the housing clusterfuck, whereby students are encouraged to sign up for crushing debt in return for the promise (but never a guarantee) of improved job prospects after graduation.

I do think college educates people (fairly well, depending on the college and the actual people involved), but it doesn't prepare you for a job. Working is very different from school.

I just graduated from college so this hits really close to home.

I went to New York University, definitely one of the most expensive schools in the nation. Tuition + Housing = $50,000+ a year. A YEAR. That's over $200,000. Thankfully, I had partial scholarships and my parents saved up for my education so currently I hold about $24,000 in debt and my parents hold $80,000 in debt which they expect me to pay off once I get rich (they might be waiting for a while...)

Now I got a BFA in Theater Arts (Acting, basically). And while on some level I always think, wow I spent $200,000 on acting, I do know that at least I studied what I actually will do in life and that NYU has provided resources that have no doubt helped start my acting career.

On the other hand, it is absolutely outrageous how little we are prepared for the real world after spending a ridiculous amount of money on education. The costs of colleges are an abomination, especially for the top schools in the nation. All throughout life we are encouraged to get good grades so we can go to a good college and get a good job. But the third part of that equation doesn't always add up. The truth is, probably a minority of people will get good jobs due directly to the good college they went to.

The debt we come out of college with is staggering. I would have more debt if I didn't have partial scholarships and didn't work while I was at college.

Our education system has been corrupted by greed. There's no doubt about that. Something needs to be done, but I'm too angry to figure out what.

Also, High School education should prepare you for real life. Why do we not have a class teaching us how to do our taxes?? It makes no sense.

What I have: I have a BA in Psych Counseling, which is my love.

What I owe: I owe $15,000 which is okay. I mean, I'd rather not, but it's do-able.

What I want to do: Sex offender and addictions counseling.

What I need: A masters degree and a million dollars.

What I do now: Grocery mechandiser, which is sweet. I work 3-5 hours a day, get paid for 5 minimum. I set my own hours for the most part, don't punch a clock and I see my boss every two months.

Job related employ: I worked for four months as a caseworker and left that hell as soon as I could. Now I make $1.50 an hour more than I did as a casweworker for the state harassing families about their kids.

Wow, I am really saddened by some of the stories here but glad for those who have had some good happen to them. Thank you all for your responses.

I went through four years of nursing school and I am currently working as a nurse now so I feel lucky to be using what I learned in school in my job.

For me, the price tag for my education has been both high but priceless. I have never had to pay off high student loans because of a large inheritance. My colleagues have had student loans of $60,000 to $70,000 which they are still paying off and it has been quite a while since we all graduated. My family, both living and dead, are proud that I went to college/university and can support myself now. That to me is priceless.

Higher education must be timed correctly and I agree with the statements made above not to go right out of high school. Had I gone to do my BSN out of high school, I wouldn't have graduated because I just didn't want it then. It would have been a waste of time and money.

Cheers

Strangely, I went to University to learn a trade. That wasn't the original intention, but it's what happened. After spending a year in that trade (scenic carpentry for theatre) I learned I hated the people, hated the money and hated creating other people's art. Fortunetly, I'm Canadian, and my theatre degree is broad enough that I could go to grad school and switch into Theatre History. Where does that put me? Well, it's a two year gig and I'm in year one and hoping to find some summer work with the Canadian gov't or an art's organization, and I specialize at least in Canadian Theatre History (I refuse to be yet another asshole studying Shakespeare, seriously, those people piss me the fuck off). This time I'm going into debt for this degree, but I'm hoping to keep it under 14K. Only time will tell.

Ashton Koosher I sure as hell hope you're in oral surgery or ortho.

I live in CA and they have two school systems, UCs and Cal States. Everyone I know went to a fancy UC school while I didn't even bother to apply. I knew what I was going to major; and it wasn't going to be a major those UCs were known for. Going to a UC would be pointless; not to mention expensive. No one understood my reasoning though. They all thought I could do better than going to a State University and should have applied to the UCs but I refused. So while everyone else is 30-40k in debt, I have a mere 8k (now 6k) in school loans. Thankfully, my parents didn't need to contribute a cent to my education. Cal State wasn't that expensive and finanical aid pretty much covered my tuition.

I have a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing Management. I graduated two years ago and I still haven't found a real job much less one in my area of study. My sister majored in Management and she works at Geico doing... whatever it is she does. My best friend went to a UC and got a degree in Economics and she's an Office Assistant/Freelance Photographer. Of course, she's not planning on staying as an office assistant but still. My cousin has a degree in sociology and she works at Avon. So yeah, a lot of people have jobs/careers that have nothing to do with their what they went to school for.

So is it a waste? Yes and no. Yes, because what's the point of spending all that time and money learning about something but then practicing something else? And no, because despite all that, having a Bachelors does allow you opportunities even if you aren't qualified for it. Employers want you to have that education even if it has nothing to do with whatever it is you're applying for.

And besides, school was a great time. At least for me. I enjoyed school. I enjoyed learning. I may be the only one though.