Which Colleges Leave Students With the Most Debt?

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When a student at a for-profit college defaults on his or her loan, it then becomes lost taxpayer money. High %'s of defaults equals higher misuse of taxpayer money

dontdelete of IA 1:06PM January 21, 2010

i agree that the for profits are looking to make a profit haha i wouldnt go so far to say that for profits are evil, theyre just people running something like public schools just under a different set of paradigms they need to follow. speaking of whether schools are evil or not this site gives a perspective of schools you wont get on their websites www.newtoschool.com

john of NY 8:32PM July 29, 2009

a for-profit college knows that the "sales staff" of recruiters of students are paid far more than the teachers are. Sometimes double or triple, in fact.

They are paid those sums precisely for their skill at getting students to sign up for unrealistic amounts of debt---to be paid to the school for far-inflated fees, given the quality of the teaching involved.

Yeah, they serve the low income sphere, all right. That's the bunch that is easier to dupe.

Muser of NM 1:49PM June 09, 2009

The author in his last paragraph makes the for-profits sound evil and greedy when he says they don't hand out the aid like the public and private colleges do. He fails to point out how philanthropy works. For-profit colleges don't get a whole lot of donors since the donations would not be tax deductible. Also notice that for-profits don't get a whole lot of aid from the states. Tuition at a for-profit is paid almost 100% by the student, not the tax payer. So an increased default rate still equates to less money out of the tax payer's pocket.

Consumers make choices. Why do you think they chose UofP over a state college when the tuition is higher and aid is lower? There must be a need being filled.

Nate Clark of NV 5:40PM May 28, 2009

If you are investing in your future, be versed in knowing the average potential earnings along with the labor market demands, once you have graduated school.Many people get into a high amount of debt and end up in an idustry were their earnings are sub par at best. Career Schools are certainly you best value. They provide relivant training, realitvely quick employment oppurtunities and they don't cost you and arm and a leg to get the training you need. In today's economy, the student must be more savy and know the outcomes.

Rick of TX 5:35PM May 28, 2009

Fred states that 40K isn't a lot of debt, but I beg to differ. I graduated years ago and was lucky to not acquire a lot of school loan debt - not because my family was rich, but because school was much less expensive then and I worked the whole time I was in school. I make a decent salary now, but if I were looking at 40K of debt, it would make me shudder even now! It's a huge amount of debt, especially if a new graduate is considering the purchase of a car, home, job-hunting expenses, etc. And who wants to be saddled with debt for 20 or 30 years?

And how did Fred get himself into $200K worth of debt? That's outrageous and probably irresponsible unless he's planning to make several hundred thousand dollars a year after he graduates or comes from a family of more than modest means. Most new jobs don't pay enough to service that kind of debt. (Fred, wasn't there a less expensive alternative to the high-priced, for-profit, private school that you attended?? Who talked you into attending this particular school?)

I'm concerned that we're graduating a whole generation of people who will be in debt for most of their working lives - sort of indentured professional workers who will struggle to make ends meet because they're paying off school loans. Then, when they get their school loans paid off, they won't be able to start socking away money for their retirement. Sooner or later, the debt will take its toll on personal wealth and the larger economy.

dean of TX 1:15PM May 27, 2009

can someone please provide a link to the list of college that leave you most in debt, in descending debt order? I cd not find it here and was expecting it.

mike of IL 12:22AM May 25, 2009

I've always found this topic to be something that isn't really a worthwhile study. I mean people go to college to get a degree so they can make more money and 40,000 is pretty easy to pay back when your getting 10 dollars an hour and 40 hours a week, that's over 20k a year and you have 20 years most times to pay back those loans so doing studies on students who mostly rack up a 40,000 dollar loan amount is kinda of silly. If they must do a study, they should hit the for-profit schools like mine where I currently at graduation have a loan amount of just shy to 200,000 dollars due to the 40k~ a year tuition and the 4k~ per class cost not including supplies. I understand the study but I just don't think it's worth putting out to the public because a 40k debt paid back in 20 years is only 2k a year not factoring in interest. Trying running my numbers, I pay that yearly amount a month. Scare the public with that.

Fred of GA 11:58PM May 24, 2009

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