Post: #1

For graduate students:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthr...id=3474465

Quote:As of July 1st, 2012, graduate and professional students will no longer be able to get subsidized loans. At all. Ever. What that means is that graduate and professional students will be paying interest on all loans, rather than having some interest deferred while in school. You will still get the amount that you would have including sub totals, but you will not have any deferred interest.

Quote:For loans first disbursed between July 1st 2012 and July 1st, 2014, subsidized loan interest will no longer be deferred during your 6 month grace period.

So for any Fall loans this year for instance, once you graduate or drop less than half-time you will be accruing interest, which will then become part of your principal balance once the grace period expires.


The subsidized loan interest rate will now be 6.8%.

Just in case you were thinking about Graduate school:

The ponzi scheme is ending. No more cheap ass loans you can defer. Time to get out of this scam if you're still involved.

Post: #2

I'm sure the top universities can use their endowments to continue to offer subsidized loans to their students. But schools way down the heirarchy will likley suffer. According to many, what the lower ranked schools offer isn't worth the fees charged anyway. If so, I guess it will be no big loss to society at large. The professors and administrators will have to find alternative employment though.

Post: #3

Well, Hussar, these changes are just for Graduate students. Undergrads aren't being screwed to the same degree.

From the thread:



Good pic.

They are raising the costs of graduate school because everyone knows you need a Masters to be competitive nowadays, so they are milking the tens of millions of graduate students for extra $$$.

Quote:If so, I guess it will be no big loss to society at large.

Other than a generation of people who are financially 'dead', it won't be a big loss at all. Nothing more serious than losing tens of thousands of young men in a war.

Post: #4

I recently read an e-book called "Worthless: The young persons indispensable guide to choosing the right major". This should be required reading for anyone about to choose an undergrad or graduate degree, very good read, I only wish it was available to me before I wasted four years and tens of thousands of dollars on my BA.

Post: #5

(03-29-2012 12:43 PM)Samseau Wrote:  Other than a generation of people who are financially 'dead', it won't be a big loss at all. Nothing more serious than losing tens of thousands of young men in a war.

I guess what I meant is that if, going forward, this change means that fewer people people get graduate degrees of questionable value it would be no big loss. The students simply wouldn't have the debt (or degree).

If, on the other hand, employers continue to demand grad degrees for any and every job (which would be ridiculous - though I don't know exactly how it works there), and students continue to persue them, now at a higher cost, yes, things would get worse.

Question:
How aggresive are universities in the States in seeking out new students for grad programs? Looking at industry news in my field on the web I often see the same google add for a masters program at MIT in this field coming up. This has always struck me as surprising coming from MIT. A friend of mine, and the smartest person I've ever met or known, was seeking entry to MIT many years ago, and this was made out to be a near impossibility for him. Admitedly this was in Astrophysics, so a bit of a different entry stream, but it seems strange to me that MIT is advertsing on random industry sites on the net for students. Do they need the money thet badly?

Post: #6

Delete

Post: #7

Maybe to appeal to students from abroad? These schools make a killing from international students also.

You know how I know school is a big ponzi scheme and scam? We supposedly go their to attain knowledge yet so many student are to stupid to see this as a big scam lol.

Even more depressing are sheep student unions whom rely on handouts whom just barf out the corporate line. They rely on hundreds or in some case thousands of dollars from us each year and do nothing but have queer nights and parades to "force" politicians to drop tuition costs. Which they never do of course because loans are usually out of their grasp, they are just middlemen as banks are the ones whom issue them.

Post: #8

If in the end colleges and universities cannot fill their class space they will either have to a) lower prices or b) Lobby to have subsidized loans reinstated. The reality is if it isn't for medical or science I can see financing for graduate school being changed. The reality is the debt doesn't equate to an upside in earnings for too many students and it may allow them more funds to buy a house with or maybe two.

BTY I have nothing against higher education, what I do have a problem with is Universities financially raping students.

Post: #9

The product of a 100-percent commodification of education. When education got linked with a white-collar career at the end of the tunnel--rather than just learning for the sake of educating yourself, with a career as an equal, or even subsidiary, goal--it changed things for the worst. Learning the arts and letters got turned into an "investment" and everything became dollars and cents. Then you privatized the financing and further added the profit motive.

Pretty soon you'll have everyone studying just computers and engineering and trying to compete like crabs in a bucket for the few jobs of those kind that haven't been shipped to India or China yet. I'm not surprised that people rit lik dis nau. Or you'll have a bunch of wannabe lawyers, with everyone suing each other as a source of income. I'm glad I only have a certain amount left on my life expectancy.

Post: #10

Education costs will never go down. Govt puts in an artificial floor with tuition. Its the subsidies which raise tuition fees. If universities were left to compete with each other and build up solid alumni to re-coup funds from then school would be aloooot different. Crappy schools and programs would disappear, costs would go down, and schools would get back to building up successful grads who thus turn into wealthy alumni whom shower the school with money.
Govt and the private sector have made it now that schools are desperate for funding, can't lower fees and have to dilute their teachings to lure in idiots and corporate funding.
Its no surprise now that the largest program in the majority of universities is easily the most useless. BA Admin? Literally keeps my schools lights up 10K kids (largest bussiness undergrad program in Canada) learning the same mundane stuff to all compete with each other for 1000K jobs. My school must make a killing of each head.

In Canada are Govt had to institute rigid floors in tuition once they handed over loan obligations via the IMF when Canada's budget was out of wack. Back then you could get an undergrad education for 8K, it was 2K a year which IMO is a descent price as you could easily save that up in a summer working. Now since loan obligations are with major banks with the Govt enforcing price floors. Its 8K a year.

Post: #11

(03-29-2012 05:25 PM)kosko Wrote:  Education costs will never go down. Govt puts in an artificial floor with tuition. Its the subsidies which raise tuition fees. If universities were left to compete with each other and build up solid alumni to re-coup funds from then school would be aloooot different. Crappy schools and programs would disappear, costs would go down, and schools would get back to building up successful grads who thus turn into wealthy alumni whom shower the school with money.
Govt and the private sector have made it now that schools are desperate for funding, can't lower fees and have to dilute their teachings to lure in idiots and corporate funding.
Its no surprise now that the largest program in the majority of universities is easily the most useless. BA Admin? Literally keeps my schools lights up 10K kids (largest bussiness undergrad program in Canada) learning the same mundane stuff to all compete with each other for 1000K jobs. My school must make a killing of each head.

In Canada are Govt had to institute rigid floors in tuition once they handed over loan obligations via the IMF when Canada's budget was out of wack. Back then you could get an undergrad education for 8K, it was 2K a year which IMO is a descent price as you could easily save that up in a summer working. Now since loan obligations are with major banks with the Govt enforcing price floors. Its 8K a year.

Which school are you in?
People in Quebec still get dirt cheap education compared to here. I believe McGill's tuiton costs are 2 or 3k for Quebec residents.

I would study there in an instant except for the fact that the Montreal winters are too fucking cold(TO winters already destroy me, no way I'd survive Montreal).

Post: #12

(03-29-2012 05:02 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  I'm glad I only have a certain amount left on my life expectancy.

Uh... come again?

Post: #13

well fuck going to Graduate school this fall

Post: #14

@TOkid I've looked into it lol supposedly you have to jump through a ton of hoops. Have to be a 'Quebec national' plus have all your schooling lined to their wonky system of CPGEP(sp?) They already to two years of college after HS preety much. I am at Ryerson The Rogers Bussiness school is the largest in Canada via enrollment. Ryerson would be broke without it lol no joke. School can't even afford to clean evreyday or afford 2-ply toilet paper lol.

Post: #15

Good point. Makes even more sense to send my kids to get the education in Russia. Depending on discipline the quality of top schools is comparable and the cost would be significantly less or even free for them. Sounds like a good deal.

Post: #16

(03-29-2012 12:54 PM)scotian Wrote:  I recently read an e-book called "Worthless: The young persons indispensable guide to choosing the right major". This should be required reading for anyone about to choose an undergrad or graduate degree, very good read, I only wish it was available to me before I wasted four years and tens of thousands of dollars on my BA.

Where did you get it?

Post: #17

Eh, fuck it. Already 40k in the hole in gov'ment loans, what is another 30K for graduate school (assuming I get no scholarships). It is all gov'ment money anyway. Not like I am looking to raise kids or buy a house anytime in the near future.

Post: #18

Fuck this.
I'm about to start my undergrad (engineering, at the thirteenth best school (Hokies, baby!) in the US for it) in a couple of months, and my parents won't pay for any of it. I mean, I can appreciate were they are coming from. I've got three younger siblings, so obviously they want to be able to help them out, but damn it, couldn't they have squirreled away some money for me?

Meanwhile, in school the other day I heard a kid bitching about how his parents would only pay for his undergrad, and not his graduate degrees. It seems like every other kid's parents are going to be covering them - meanwhile, I'm going to be stuck with a ~80k cloud of debt over my head.

I know you guys don't want to hear my bitching but damn I'm so pissed.

Post: #19

At least this will keep the mid 30-something perpetual students from staying in college for his whole life. I can't stand those guys, hiding from the real world. Generally speaking, advanced degrees are useless these days.

Experience, networking, good timing, hard work, and determination are all it takes to move up (if you don't have that entrepreneurial spark). All you have to do is be smart about it. Build your resume, impress the right people, and move when the time is right. You learn a hell of a lot more in the field than you do in school anyway. Get your foundation during your undergrad and build from there.