10 Ways to Avoid Excessive Student Debt

April 26, 2017 at 08:03 AM · With the absurd costs of the US ed system, it is sometimes cheaper to move to another country and study there.

This is obviously a bubble and it will pop

April 26, 2017 at 03:32 PM · "This is obviously a bubble and it will pop"

I think you're describing something totally different. The student loan market may be some kind of "bubble" (if that's the correct term, something I doubt), but the market for professional classical musicians is a "pyramid" or "lottery," in which a lucky chosen few do really well while the rest barely get by.

Frankly, I see music schools lumped in with other expensive art schools, including photography, acting, film schools, etc. The dilemma for music and art students is that they need to ask themselves whether they are willing to be in their field come-what-may, or whether they envision some minimum standard of living they may need later in life. The dilemma is that 17- and 18-year-olds are not really equipped to make that decision because our values and priorities may radically change from 18 until 30 or 40.

I still maintain, as I have so often on this forum, that in 2017 and for the foreseeable future, those hoping to make any kind of living should only attend highly-ranked conservatories, and only if they are given full scholarships, including living expenses. Probably not what most students and professors at lesser institutions want to hear...

Gerald, I'm skeptical of this statement: "1st-year earnings of master's degree graduates average about $30,000." It's like saying that if you have one foot in a bucket of ice water and the other in a bucket of hot water that your average temperature is comfortable.

April 26, 2017 at 03:42 PM · No, I meant the ed costs, regardless of the profession. The loan system only sustains because the prices for higher education are exorbitant.

And I am not sure how feasible is to have 100% of the students on a full-scholarship basis (not in the US at least)

April 26, 2017 at 04:28 PM · Well, it's feasible to have very few select hotshots on a full scholarship. So what I meant is that unless a student is one of those elite few, they should rethink their career plans.

But yes, you're right: our system is, like health care, is corrupted by big money, and unsustainable in the long term. So I suggest people be very healthy prodigies...

April 26, 2017 at 05:07 PM · I thought this article had some very practical advice. Although, overall in my reading there is great tension between following your passion and being realistic with finances. This recent article from the NY Times suggests that we should overcome our "fear" and just do it. (https://nyti.ms/2pdzpUD) I suppose everyone has to weigh the risks and decide what they want to do. It is ignorance about those risks that get people into trouble.

Yet, paying debt off is possible! I am a public teacher who paid off my student loans with hard work and blessings. If figured I could always play violin, but teach to pay the bills. It has worked out great!

April 26, 2017 at 05:56 PM · Now the universities are cleverly shifting the debt burden to parents, so they saddle the student with "just" $6,000 a year, but the parent with $30,000 a year, on top of the $20,000 per year they are expected to pay out-of-pocket. It's just not possible to do for most families, so it will be interesting to see what choices start evolving. I'm seeing more and more advice that discourages taking on the debt. Here is another recent one: My Son Was Accepted to a College He Can't Afford. Now What? All those stories used to carry the message, "Go for it, live your dream, it will be worth it!" Instead, that story ends with, "The only thing I know is that (my son) is avoiding a crushing debt burden. For now, that’s good enough."

The narrative is changing, my friends.

April 26, 2017 at 06:22 PM · Thanks for your comments, all.

Scott Cole: That $30K figure represents approximate total income and is derived from the SNAAP data, which compiles info using self-reports from tens of thousands of arts graduates (see the link at the end of the article).

To me, such an income is unsatisfactory for someone with a master's degree. I.e., it equates with a full-time job paying $15/hr - people without even undergraduate degrees often earn similar amounts and more.

William Rhoden: I appreciate you bringing up the inner tension issue. Musicians who develop multiple interests and a variety of income streams can simultaneously pursue their passions and prepare to thrive in the job market (as you seem to have done).

I've learned that the key is to learn about oneself and the world of work so that it becomes possible to find a balance. Conversely, music students who naively borrow money to earn advanced degrees in music performance, without considering their employment and work prospects, set themselves up for financial disaster, as was the case with the singer quoted in my article.

April 26, 2017 at 07:15 PM · Laurie - Thanks for the thoughtful comment and link. I expect that the student in the article you shared will get a fine education at his in-state school, an education that's comparable to what he would have obtained at the out-of-state institution. And if he wants to transfer, a solid internship plus outstanding grades could earn him added scholarship funding from other universities.

As you say, the higher ed landscape is changing, and people are wising up to the perils of too much education debt. In fact, as has been widely reported, the US government is holding more than $1.2 trillion in outstanding student debt, which they loaned and continue to loan to teenagers and others without regard for the borrowers' ability to pay it back. It pains me to witness the devastation that the federal loan program has caused, which motivated me to post this article.

Regarding music students, the traditional undergraduate curriculum seems woefully out of date. Music colleges commonly function like trade schools, and they graduate thousands upon thousands of narrowly skilled performers who are prepared to work for employers such as orchestras that, nationally, have only handfuls of full-time vacancies each year.

A generation ago, one could argue that narrowly educated music graduates would still be competitive for diverse good-paying jobs because employers would train them, and companies valued their work ethics and team skills.

In today's world, though, employers expect graduates to be far more comprehensively job-ready - i.e., able to demonstrate accomplishments with IT, communications, problem solving, leadership and other skills. Here's how the National Assoc. of Colleges and Employers defines job readiness.

Also, let's affirm that education is valuable for its own sake - I'm not saying that vocationalism is the exclusive answer to the student loan problem. But the financial equation still has to balance out for students and their families.

All in all, I think that education hasn't kept pace with the times. Students do well, therefore, to expend the effort to work out numerous options for obtaining high-quality, 21st-century educations without incurring excessive debt.

April 27, 2017 at 02:42 AM · Timely article. I was fortunate that I went to college in the 60's and early 70's when the costs, especially of state schools, wasn't so far out reach for the average earner. The major university in my state, University of New Mexico, figures that the costs for a full time student per year is a little over 21,000 dollars. That is cheap compared to major private schools but, spending 4 to 5 years in getting a degree that may end up being worthless or nearly so is maybe not the smartest decision. I wish it weren't so. A music degree is, to me, a very valuable thing but in terms of future earning power???

April 27, 2017 at 07:07 AM · Frankly, I don't think any degree is a sure thing to earning power anymore. We simply have more people with advanced degrees than related jobs available, no matter what the profession. Couple that with the continued shipping of American jobs overseas, and you have generations of debt slaves on the horizon. Soon, you will have to have a masters degree of some sort to work entry level at Mcdonalds. It's depressing.

April 27, 2017 at 02:42 PM · Gerald Klickstein - I agree that the federal (and private loan) sector has damaged our education system. Universities have no incentive to keep costs down and lenders are willing to loan since they still make money when people default. Another NYT article documents how one of the most popular lending firms, at best, allows naively, at worst, preys on people who borrow large sums from them. https://nyti.ms/2nYNbqp

People can't assume that lenders and schools have the student's best interest at heart. Yet, that is the image they project. Student's and parents beware!

Laurie - I wonder how long parents will stand for the split cost?

April 27, 2017 at 03:42 PM · There are lots of ways to think about student debt. But let's say one of your strategies for avoiding debt is to "work your way through school" by taking a job as a waiter in a restaurant or tending bar. Let's say that job pays $20 per hour including tips and after taxes, which might be reasonable for a bartender. And let's say you work 20 hours per week. So you're making $400 per week.

Now let's say that your part-time work causes you to withdraw from a couple of courses or take a lighter schedule which results in having to stay in school for an extra term. Working 20 hours per week could easily cause that much delay in graduation unless your major is something really lame. And let's say you're at a state school where your in-state annual tuition and mandatory fees are $13000 which is what they are where I teach (Virginia Tech). That means the extra term costs you $6500.

That means you are going to work your part-time job 16 weeks -- one full term -- just to cover the tuition for the extra term that you'll have to go to school. And if the best job you can get earns $10 per hour after taxes, and if it's out-of-state tuition that you're paying, then that's two full academic years that you're working just to cover the extra term.

I say it's not worth it. As long as I have money in the bank I won't have my daughters waiting tables, tending bar, or working retail when they should be focusing on getting better grades and enjoying the full range of academic and other genuinely enriching opportunities that college offers, because those are the things that will strengthen their transcripts and CVs and increase their earning power dramatically after graduation. Please don't tell me that they'll learn "teamwork" or "organizational skills" by tending bar in a college dive or checking out customers at Target.

If you're a young student reading this, ask if you can help cook a week's worth of suppers and put that into Rubbermaid containers for the whole week so that your family never has to eat in a restaurant. Good place to start is a pot of chili or red spaghetti sauce. The average family blows an enormous amount of money on restaurant services. If you can save $50 per week by avoiding restaurants that's $2500 per year. Over an 18-year childhood you save $45000. All of that goes in your 529 account and it pays for two years of college. (And if dad's getting a new car every three years and you're taking out college loans, then something is wrong with dad's priorities.) This is how my parents paid for all three of their children's private-school educations -- by being very frugal. I'm planning to pay it forward.

The other thing that really helps is to buy a home you can actually afford.