Debt is a trap, especially student debt, which is enormous, far larger than credit card debt. It's a trap for the rest of your life because the laws are designed so that you can't get out of it. If a business, say, gets in too much debt, it can declare bankruptcy, but individuals can almost never be relieved of student debt through bankruptcy. – Noam Chomsky
Wednesday, March 24, 2015 (DAY 1,115)
When I think back to obtaining my Bachelor of Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Journalism and English Literature in 2006, I calculated that I spent more than $30,000 on my college education, and thankfully I only took a small student loan my junior or senior year, which I paid off the entire remaining balance of about $3,500 before leaving on my one-way global adventure. Therefore, even though I've been away from the United States for more than three-years–with the exception of a brief stint traveling from Central America to South East Asia via Los Angeles for a few days–I still try and keep up with what's going on in the news, and of course one topic that really surprised me was reading that student loan debt in the United States has now surpassed $1 trillion dollars, and the average student loan debt is close to $30,000 per individual! This, of course, made me feel extremely sad for those that may carry this financial ball and chain for not only the rest of their life, but will be passed down to other family members. There was a recent poll by the nonprofit American Consumer Credit Counseling (#ACCC) that found that an astounding 77% of those surveyed had an outstanding student debt of some amount, this is listed from the large infographic below. I wanted to share with others HOW I was able to avoid majoring in debt, and even though some of the things that I did may not be an option for you, it is something to consider before filling out that FAFSA or applying for student loans, from whatever financial institution they are being offered from. According to the Wall Street Journal the, "CFPB (from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) officials say student debt is rising for several reasons, including a surge in Americans going to college in recent years to escape the weak labor market. Also, tuition increases—which many colleges say are needed to offset big cuts in state funding—have many students taking out bigger loans."
When I think back to obtaining my Bachelor of Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Journalism and English Literature in 2006, I calculated that I spent more than $30,000 on my college education, and thankfully I only took a small student loan my junior or senior year, which I paid off the entire remaining balance of about $3,500 before leaving on my one-way global adventure. Therefore, even though I've been away from the United States for more than three-years–with the exception of a brief stint traveling from Central America to South East Asia via Los Angeles for a few days–I still try and keep up with what's going on in the news, and of course one topic that really surprised me was reading that student loan debt in the United States has now surpassed $1 trillion dollars, and the average student loan debt is close to $30,000 per individual! This, of course, made me feel extremely sad for those that may carry this financial ball and chain for not only the rest of their life, but will be passed down to other family members. There was a recent poll by the nonprofit American Consumer Credit Counseling (#ACCC) that found that an astounding 77% of those surveyed had an outstanding student debt of some amount, this is listed from the large infographic below. I wanted to share with others HOW I was able to avoid majoring in debt, and even though some of the things that I did may not be an option for you, it is something to consider before filling out that FAFSA or applying for student loans, from whatever financial institution they are being offered from. According to the Wall Street Journal the, "CFPB (from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) officials say student debt is rising for several reasons, including a surge in Americans going to college in recent years to escape the weak labor market. Also, tuition increases—which many colleges say are needed to offset big cuts in state funding—have many students taking out bigger loans."
Sadly, one thing I now consider–even thought I'm single–is the potential amount of debt I may incur in getting in to a future relationship. Also, the fact that 31% of individuals had to move back home with their parents in order to save money can be a very humbling experience.
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According to the, "CFPB (via the Wall Street Journal article) officials say student debt is rising for several reasons, including a surge in Americans going to college in recent years to escape the weak labor market. Also, tuition increases—which many colleges say are needed to offset big cuts in state funding—have many students taking out bigger loans." Even though I was working full time while completing the entirety of my college degree, one area that encouraged me to complete it as quickly as possible was the fact that at the University of Colorado at Boulder the tuition was raising each semester for *general cost increases (whatever that exactly meant) by close to $500 or more, and when you are paying for your own tuition and textbooks, this can be a significant amount.
Two things that will save you money if you are someone that does not have a college trust fund, scholarships, grants, or basically anything where you will not need to repay monies, is:
1) Choose an in-state school to avoid out-of-state costs.
2) As much as you may want the so-called 'true college experience' by beginning at a four-year University, consider attending a local community college BUT only focus on the prerequisites that WILL typically transfer to a four-year University. I'll admit that I took an Intro to Architecture course that was 6-credits, a lot of work, expensive textbooks and materials and when I transferred to CU Boulder NONE of this was accepted. Therefore, it was a lesson learned of time and money wasted.
1) Choose an in-state school to avoid out-of-state costs.
2) As much as you may want the so-called 'true college experience' by beginning at a four-year University, consider attending a local community college BUT only focus on the prerequisites that WILL typically transfer to a four-year University. I'll admit that I took an Intro to Architecture course that was 6-credits, a lot of work, expensive textbooks and materials and when I transferred to CU Boulder NONE of this was accepted. Therefore, it was a lesson learned of time and money wasted.
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When you are ready to transfer to a four university make sure at least one semester if not an entire year before you are ready to transfer that you are already in direct contact with both your community college and university academic advisors to ensure that the courses you are taking or have taken will FULLY transfer! This again will save you an enormous amount of money. Both academic advisors from each institution knew me by name be cause I got to a point–in some ways–where I was on the verge of harassing them to ensure my transfer. The reason for this was, when I first made the trip out to the University of Colorado at Boulder in the spring and met with Steve Jones, the Associate Dean of Students and Curriculum Journalism, and I will never forget waiting in the hallway at the 'Armory Building' the old Journalism School and the door was slightly ajar and I happen to overhear a student ask about her excitement for graduating in a few short months, but then was told that after overlooking her overall credits that unfortunately there was a change in the requirements and since it was already past the midpoint of the Spring semester that she would actually NOT be graduating as expected that Spring! Horrified she was crying, naturally, and upset. THIS, THIS right here is the reason why I continue to insist that you practically harass your academic advisor of ANY new changes by meeting with them every semester, especially multiple times leading in to your senior year. This is not just limited to the University of Colorado at Boulder, but I have heard numerous horror stories from all institutions both public, private, Ivy League, graduate schools, etc. Therefore, do not just trust the information at the beginning of your higher education career, but be proactive and persistent! Changes often occur, and I suppose some universities expect the students to do their research about any changes to the requirements of their particular major. Even though I felt that I harassed both academic advisors from Front Range Community College (#FRCC) and the University of Colorado at Boulder (#CUBuffs), once I made the full transition to CU, I found out that there was one prerequisite that was newly required, which was a physics course.
Therefore, due to working full time, my options were limited when selecting from courses that would meet this requirement, and therefore I ended up having to take a Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8am Physics of Sound with about 500-plus students in a lecture auditorium that in all honest, kicked my ass! Along with everyone else. I made it a point to sit in a different seat in this giant auditorium style classroom, and each time I would ask people around me if they had any idea what was going on, and EVERY person said absolutely not! I don't think I've ever seen a group of 500-plus individuals that always looked terrified and were taking notes as fast as they could! We had our entire class for lectures with the professor on Mondays and Wednesdays, and due to the enormous class size on Fridays (for myself and about 20-30 others) we had recitation class, which, "basically, recitation classes are for courses with a large class size or complicated material (like math or science). Usually these classes will have 1 professor and several student teachers. The professor will teach the large class (also called the Lecture) and cover new material. The student teachers will teach the recitation classes and go over the week's material in more detail. Because there is often a lot of material to cover in the large class, there isn't a lot of time to go over specifics or answer questions. The recitation class gives you the opportunity to address any questions or issues in a smaller classroom environment. Also, quizzes and homework are frequently given &/or collected during the recitation class," via Yahoo answers.
In conclusion, really evaluate carefully by FULLY understanding student loans before utilizing them for paying for your University degree. This also applies to those that are considering Graduate School, such as MBA programs and more. Don't get me wrong, I still am a strong believer in achieving your bachelor's degree and more, however, it should be considered very carefully HOW you are going to financially afford it. Once again, my life has been quite unique and one such way I was able to pay for my higher education was not only working full time in broadcast television, BUT, surprisingly I purchased a home at the very young age of 20 back in 2002, which was a four-bedroom three-bathroom home where I had roommates pretty much during my entire college career, which took me six-years to complete, which I can't help but quote from one of my favorite movies, "You know a lot of people go to college for seven years. I know, they're called doctors." If you know the movie you're already a superhero in my book! Well, going back to purchasing a home prior to the 2008 housing crash and global recession, this allowed me to have roommates that helped me to save about ever six-months, where I then got to write out a $6,000-plus check to the University for a semester of tuition! Fun, right? Well, in conclusion, be AWARE and DO YOUR RESEARCH when consider your school you attend, by asking things such as;
1) How you are going to pay for it?
2) What will you do you if don't complete your degree?
3) Is your degree field a viable financial option upon completing your degree when considering paying back the student loans?
2) What will you do you if don't complete your degree?
3) Is your degree field a viable financial option upon completing your degree when considering paying back the student loans?
Majoring in Debt from Troy Travels on Vimeo.
Copyright Law (title 17, U. S. Code 107 through 118)
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.
MY RTW PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
Returning on a red-eye flight from Cambodia, the sun is still rising through the giant plate-glass windows of Incheon International Airport. Even thought I am exhausted from a lack of sleep on the flight, I know that I have a relatively busy day in front of me. However, even fighting through the exhaustion ... (*will finish and repost on 4/22*)
Returning on a red-eye flight from Cambodia, the sun is still rising through the giant plate-glass windows of Incheon International Airport. Even thought I am exhausted from a lack of sleep on the flight, I know that I have a relatively busy day in front of me. However, even fighting through the exhaustion ... (*will finish and repost on 4/22*)
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