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Things to consider when thinking about college

Video

Emily Avis

“When you’re thinking about what you want to study, you have to think about what jobs are out there. Is it a highly desirably career field? Are there a lot of openings, or you going into a dead-end career? Do only the top 10% of the people graduating get jobs? That’s an important thing to look at. When I was in college, I saw a lot of people who were there just because they were supposed to be in college, because it was what was expected of them. It seemed to me that a lot of people went to school for the wrong reasons, not knowing what they wanted to study. At 18, you are so young and you do not have to decide right then and there what you’re going to do for the rest of your life. I would just suggest you take the time to figure out your path before you commit yourself to $100,000 in college costs. There are a lot of options you can pursue after high school, and college is only one of them. A lot of the time, if you’re not ready for college or if you don’t know that it’s for you, you can go get a job or an internship with a company and get to know if you enjoy the type of work in the career you’re thinking of entering. An internship is a free year of education, and a year of school would not be free.”

Avoid taking out too many college loans

Video

Seth Poplaski

“I have a friend who went to UNH to become a coach and now has over $150,000 worth of loans. Studying to be a coach isn’t necessarily a bad thing and he’s very good at what he does, but if you think about $150,000, that’s a house in today’s market. So he’ll be paying off the equivalent of one house, and if he wants to buy an actual house or make another big purchase, that’s going to be very hard for him to do. Taking out a lot of loans can have serious consequences. I have friends who graduated from college debt-free because they worked through college, something that I think is overlooked a lot these days. One of the best choices I ever made was to work 40 hours a week through college so I could keep my college loans down. It was a lot of work working and going to school full-time, but it was worth it. I think one of the most important things you can do as an 18-year-old is to make sure that you work throughout college, even if it’s just a part-time job, so you don’t have to take out every single loan. It’s not free money, and it will end up biting you in the end.”

Be open to new possibilities in college

Video

Andy Pfeffer, ME

“College opens your eyes to new possibilities and new interests. Go to college with the idea that you might not know exactly what you want to do. You don’t have to be stuck with what you said you were going to do when you first got there. For me, I ended up changing my major three or for times even after I decided I wanted to move towards a business degree. Keep your mind open, experience new things, and be prepared to change your plans if that’s what you need to do.”

Come up with a plan in college to pay off your student loans

Video

Shannara Gillman, ME

“While you’re still in school, sit down and really think about what do you want to do when you get out. You’re going to have to do something, and there are plenty of online tools that will help you determine what the salary range is going to be for what you want to do. Then, start to really parse out and compare what you expect to make and what the growth potential is for the field that you’re looking to land in after college. By comparing those figures, you can begin to estimate how much debt you can afford to take on. There are also programs to help you work around the student debt. There are some new programs even with repayment of student debt where if you work in a non-profit organization, for example, then you pay back your student loans based on your income and it’s an income-adjusted monthly payment. After 10 years, you can have whatever you haven’t paid off forgiven because you’ve been working in pubic service for 10 years. There’s also AmeriCorps that can help you pay off the debt, so there are ways to deal with if people are willing to do those types of service programs as well. But at the base, look at whether or not you’ll be able to fit your student loan payments into the 28/36 ratio based on what you can expect to earn in your chosen profession. You also need to realize that just because you’re choosing this profession sitting in your dorm room doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to materialize, so you need to have a backup plan. What is that plan, and will it allow you to support this level of debt? Really think about that.”

 

Be smart about how you pursue your dream

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Shannara Gillman, ME

“I definitely think that a student loan is always going to be classified as a good debt, but I think there gets to be a point at which you have to recognize that while there an emotional and personal benefit to this, you also have to consider the actual economic benefit to this, and if the economic benefit doesn’t at least level out against the debt you’re going to be taking on, then you need to explore other options for funding that. There are thousands upon thousands of dollars in scholarships that go unclaimed every year because people just don’t take the time to apply for them. Look for scholarships, look for alternate ways to get yourself through school that don’t involve taking on the debt. It takes a lot more work, but in the long run you still have that emotional and personal benefit without the crushing debt load. I would never tell someone, ‘Don’t pursue your dream because you’re never going to make a living at it.’ I would say, ‘Go ahead and pursue that dream, but be smart about how you do it.’”

 

Paying off student loans

Video

Barbara Petit, ME

“I’m not sure how much I borrowed in total, but now for student loan repayments I pay $300 a month.  I got three years of room and board taken care of for me and went to one of the lower-end priced schools, and I’m still paying $300 a month to pay back my student loans. I’m grateful that I have a college education because without it I wouldn’t be in the job I have now, but I think it’s better to go to one of the state schools or local community colleges.”

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