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Comment by scarface74 | Hacker News Reader

I have a hard time feeling any sympathy for students racking up tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt to go to a "good school" to get a degree in a field that doesn't pay enough to make it a worthwhile investment.

I went to an unknown state college and paid less for my four year CS degree than many of my coworkers paid for 1 year and within 3 years of graduating, I had no debt, and was making just as much as people sitting beside me who went to more "prestigious" schools.

I had former classmates that thought they were too good to go to the local state college,racked up thousands in debt to be a teacher or a social worker. Why?

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It's super easy to look back and think, "it really doesn't matter where you went to school." and it's true, I've met people who went to no-name schools and get employed at great companies.

But put yourself into the shoes of an impressionable 16-17 year old. Private and flagship public universities have mastered selling their product with tours, special programs, the "college experience" etc. In addition, they sell getting a job with countless networking opportunities (especially prestigious schools).

It'd be really efficient for anyone who would need loans to get a degree to knock out all gen eds at a comm college and then transfer to an in-state university (it makes zero sense to pay 30-55K a year to take an entire schedule of calc 1 and chem 101). But it's hard to blame a 17 year old for taking the more fun and cooler option than the practical one.

I suppose if government and states invested heavily into community colleges and made them "cool" with great facilities and opportunities, more kids can be incentivized to go that route and avoid the heavy loans.

How many 16-17 year olds don't have parents or guardians to talk some sense into them?

Government loans have a limit, especially for non independent students. Parents usually end up cosigning.

I told my children they "choose" what college they go to based on how hard they work in high school. If they don't get scholarships, they have to get loans in their own name - meaning one ended up in a 2 year school, lived at home, and could transfer later if he did well.

Removing the debt protections for the industry (ie. allowing students to default) would be the surest way to limit the proclivity of institutions to offer bad investments to students.

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